A Long Time to Wait
by lyricallylily
Summary: Ginny is 16 years old and has a secret that could eventually save the wizarding community. The only person who possibly could understand is Harry Potter. What happens when Ginny's secret becomes known to Harry? Being revamped w/a bit more maturity!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and everything that you happen to recognize from the books belongs to JK Rowling and the production companies that they properly are owned by.in other words, I don't have any copyright on anything you see unless it's dealing with the plot, or the characters that you don't recognize from the books. I'm just a little fan who can't help but let her imagination run wild for a little bit.  
  
Prologue  
  
Small hands delicately brushed long hair away from an ashen face and behind small ears. Turning to look into the mirror, brown eyes were seen to wince at the reflection staring back at her. Pale skin, once so bright and vibrant, contrasted greatly to the dark auburn hair that flowed down the 16 year olds back, ending just below her shoulder blades. Freckles stood out on the white skin, dotting around the girl's nose. Pale lips completed the pasty look of the girl reflected in the mirror, and she crinkled her nose in distaste at herself.  
  
It had been another sleepless night for Ginny Weasley, and she couldn't help but notice the repercussions of three quarters of a summer's worth of nightmares and long nights. Turning away from the mirror, Ginny quickly dressed in some of her favorite Muggle clothing; a simple white tank top and a pair of blue jean shorts, which were cut at both the waist and leg. She pulled on a few stray strands of strings that hung from the bottom of her shorts before turning back to the mirror. Grabbing her wand from her nightstand, Ginny glanced at the door to make sure that her door was shut. Once she was satisfied that no one was looking, she murmured the spell that applied Muggle make-up to her face quickly and expertly.  
  
"Cosmeticos," she said, aiming her wand at herself and closing her eyes.  
  
When she opened her eyes, she smiled at her reflection. Gone were the dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep, and in their place was a natural look. A very small amount of eye makeup had been applied with the charm, and it simply lined her eyes, and darkened and curled her lashes. Her skin appeared to be bright with rosy cheeks again, and no one could see that she looked sickly. Due to the simple charm that Ginny had found in only her second year of school, no one noticed that she'd been having trouble sleeping.  
  
She heard the sounds of her mother in the kitchen, and took one more glance in the mirror to make sure that her face was covered with the makeup. Satisfied, she walked out of her room and down the many stairs to get to the main floor of the house.  
  
It was a full house this summer; the entire family was home. It was a rare occasion for the Weasley family, and Ginny loved it. She had been ecstatic when Bill and Charlie had owled to tell the family that they'd be home for the summer, and even Percy took a light workload at the Ministry of Magic to have a chance to see his family more. (Although he did seem to be working more and more on reports about cauldron bottoms.) When everyone in her family was home, it meant that her brothers were safe and happy. With everyone home, also, it took away from the time that her mother spent fussing about her, and gave her time to be by herself.  
  
The sight of her father reading the newspaper at the table was what Ginny first saw, and with a quick glance up, she saw her mother busy at the stove. Pancakes were magically flipping themselves, and eggs seemed to be scrambling themselves next to the frying bacon. Ginny smiled; although she hadn't really had her appetite lately, she still loved breakfast time at the Burrow. She stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the family room, and just watched as the rest of her family descended down the stairs. Bill and Charlie, who shared a room now that their previous rooms had been taken over, arrived at the same time. They both managed a sleepy 'Hello' before sitting down at the table and reaching for the sections of the paper her father was done with.  
  
Fred and George Weasley came down the stairs next; both of them patting her head as they went by her to get to the table. It was a rarity that both twins were acting serious, and Ginny hid a smile as she saw Fred pour some powder into Percy's waiting cup of tea. She silently watched as Percy came down the stairs, sat down at the table without saying a word, and grabbed a section of newspaper. He started reading, and without even looking in his mug, drank a bit of tea. His hair promptly turned purple.  
  
Fred and George snickered as Ron came down the stairs, his hair sticking out wildly in many directions. He quite obviously had just woken up, and he smiled when he saw Percy's hair. He glanced up at Ginny, though, and frowned.  
  
"Gin, aren't those Muggle clothes a bit.er, uh revealing?" he ventured, sitting down at the table.  
  
Ginny glared at him, her small eyes fiery. "Muggle clothes are supposed to be more revealing than a robe, you prat. There's a reason why these are summer clothes, they help to keep you cool in the middle of July." She sat down next to Bill as she said this, and Mrs. Weasley started setting plates of food in front of everyone.  
  
Arthur Weasley looked up from his newspaper to see what Ron was talking about. His eyes shone as he spoke to his only daughter. "Gin, are those the new Muggle clothes you were telling me about? Those are the ones from the store that had." he continued to marvel at the size of the store Ginny had bought her clothing from, and Ginny smirked at Ron. He scowled, shook his head at the clothes that helped his little sister show off her new figure, and began eating breakfast.  
  
They had barely finished breakfast when three owls flew in the window by the stove. Ginny's eyes immediately recognized the beautiful white owl that belonged to Ron's best friend, Harry Potter. Ron removed the letter from Hedwig's leg while Errol, the family owl, flew to Percy, and another owl that looked to be a barn owl, flew to Mrs. Weasley.  
  
"It's from Professor Dumbledore," Molly Weasley said, smiling at the letter, "He says that Harry will be able to stay here at the Burrow starting next week!"  
  
Ron immediately smiled, as did Fred and George. They always enjoyed having another able Quidditch player in the house. Ron finished reading his letter from Harry, and scowled before he finally smiled. "Well, at least Harry will be happy to hear that he can come stay. I'll owl him back right now to tell him."  
  
Ginny looked at Ron's face, puzzled. Why had he been scowling after he had read Harry's letter? Usually, Ron was happy after Harry wrote him a letter, and shared with the family most of what Harry had written. She bit her bottom lip, thinking of reasons why Ron hadn't said anything.  
  
Something was definitely up with Harry, because Ron looked worried as he wrote the letter telling Harry that he could come to the Burrow. Yes, something was definitely up with Harry Potter. 


	2. Chapter One A typical summer day

Wow, I only put this prologue up last night and I already have reviews!  I love you guys!  I'm trying to do at least a chapter or two every other day…hope everyone will still like it.

Disclaimer:  Same as before.  I don't really own it, unless you don't recognize it from the books.

Chapter One

_'_'_A green serpent, long and monstrous, lay coiled up in the dungeon.  What was left of the huge eyes had turned brown and green with decay, and dried blood was caked around the eye sockets.  One curling fang grotesquely sprung from one side of the snake's mouth, and the other lay discarded over by the wall, surrounded by what looked like a mixture of dark ink and blood.  The dead basilisk was rotting, and a horrible smell permeated the whole dungeon.  _

_However, it was not alone.  In the corner, away from the serpent, stood a chair.  It was a chair that had long ago been used by Salazar Slytherin himself, and had a high, hard back.  The elegance of the green, silver, and gold chair contrasted greatly with the cement walls of the dungeon, but the engraved snakes that stood as legs for the chair made it fit right in.  Next to the chair was a folding chair, one that even ordinary Muggles used.  Voices rang out and echoed in the dungeon; one was wobbly and stuttering, the other hissing and threatening.  _

_Voldemort was in the dungeon, this time not as his teenaged self, but in his real body.  Having been recovering for nearly three years, his powers were restored almost back to what they were originally.  His slanting eyes looked even more deadly, his body looked stronger and tougher, and his voice was still as menacing as it had ever been.  He no longer needed a host to live; he was independent in that manner.  However, he still thrived on power and wanted, needed revenge on the person who had taken it away from him all those years ago._

_"Wormtail," Voldemort hissed, "Have you the news I ordered you to get?"_

_Peter Pettigrew shivered at being addressed directly from his Master.  "M-m-m-my Lord, I have not yet received the news f-f-from Ma—'_

_The long, slanted eyes of his master glowed red, as the man didn't let him finish the sentence.  "Silence, then," he whispered menacingly, "I asked for this news many weeks ago.  I need this information, Wormtail, before the batty headmaster learns of what is to come."  Wormtail bent his neck down in rejection; he knew what was to come if his master wasn't happy.  He did not have long to wait, though, and he screamed in pain as he fell to the floor with the yelled word "Crucio!" from his master.  _

_Voldemort looked down with disgust at Wormtail writhing on the floor and laughed.  Time was getting to be crucial in what he had planned; time was one thing that he did not have on his side.  For once Dumbledore knew of the outcome, he would find the counteract, and it was not hard to find at all.  No, time was definitely not on Voldemort's side.'_ __

Ginny Weasley rolled over in bed, unconsciously trying to fight the visions that she was having.  She restlessly tossed and turned, but it did not help stop the terrifying dream.

 '_Ginny herself was in the dream now.  Looking down to see that she was in her nightdress still, it was obvious that she didn't belong there in the dream.  She stood inside a large room that held a crib and a rocking chair, and many pictures were up on the faded yellow walls.  It was a charming little nursery, obviously tended to by loving parents.  Stuffed animals had been charmed to move slightly, and the crib was now full of animals trying to chase each other.  Ginny smiled, tickling a particularly floppy bunny that was trying to hop over the edge of the crib unsuccessfully._

_A loud crash from down the stairs made Ginny jump, and she heard a woman scream.  Ginny ran out of the nursery to see what was happening.  She saw a woman with dark red hair scurrying away from the door as a man yelled for her to go, that he would stop whoever it was that was obviously intruding.  A louder bang sounded as the front door fell to the floor, and Ginny saw a figure dressed in black robes towering over the man.  _

_Another scream sounded, and then everything went gray.'_ __

Ginny sprung up in bed, panting.  She leaned back against her headboard and shut her eyes, trying to drown out the visions still dancing around in her head.  A tear rolled down her cheek from underneath her closed eyelid, and she held back a sob.  This wasn't the first time that she'd had that last dream, she'd had it many times, in fact.  Every time it ended in the same place: with the terrified scream of the young woman holding what Ginny assumed to be the baby that belonged in the crib.   What made it worse was that the woman had long, dark red hair, and Ginny had this feeling that she was glimpsing the past - the sad past of James and Lily Potter.  But she had no way of knowing; Ginny could not see either face of the two people in her dream.

The first dream, however, had been a new one.   Ginny had had dreams off and on about the Chamber of Secrets since her very first year of school; lately, though, the dreams had evolved from seeing Tom Riddle and the freshly dead basilisk to seeing Voldemort and the decaying basilisk.  Sniffling, Ginny sat up.  There was no way that she could go back to sleep now.  She looked at the clock next to her bed.   'Go back to sleep,' the top of it said, and the time read 3:28am.

Ginny sighed, and walked over to her window.  She looked up at the stars, and sighed again.  'Here's to another sleepless night,' she thought to herself.

*

*

The same time that night, a white owl stirred in her cage as her owner moved restlessly in bed.  The now alert owl watched as the young man kicked his covers off while still asleep; it was obvious that he was having a nightmare.

The light green glow from the lightening shaped scar on his forehead was also a good indication of what the nightmare was about.  Suddenly, the young man awoke and sat up, gasping for breath.  A searing pain ran through his head and he winced, rubbing the scar in hopes to somewhat ease the pain.  Swear rolled down his neck and onto the white undershirt he was wearing as he tried to calm down from the awful visions that had appeared in his dreams.  Shaking his head as if it would help clear his mind, he mentally told himself to get a grip.

Once his breathing had returned to normal, he reached for his new glasses on his small bedside table.  After putting them on, his eyes traveled to his owl's cage.  Seeing that she was now awake, he got out of bed and opened her cage door.  She stepped out onto his outstretched hand and affectionately ruffled her feathers for her owner.

"I s'pose you heard me rustling, huh, Hedwig.  Sorry about that, you've had a long day," 16 year old Harry Potter said.  Indeed, Hedwig had had a long day, traveling to the Burrow in Ottery St. Catchpole and back to Surrey.  

The owl climbed to his shoulder and started nipping at his ear lightly before she took flight to the windowsill.  Harry opened the window for her, and she flew out of sight into the light of the early dawn.  Sighing, Harry stood there and looked out the window, thinking.

It had been a long time since he'd had awful nightmares, but they had started back up at the beginning of the summer holidays.  They weren't just any nightmares though; horrifying visions of the past were coming back to Harry rapidly, and he worried more and more about them each time he'd had one.  He'd even written to tell Ron about them, to see what he thought of them.  He sighed, and shook his head again.  He still couldn't get the visions out of his mind:  he had seen, or rather, heard the voice of the one wizard he had hoped to never see again – Voldemort.  Harry had heard him saying how his power was now restored, and as if that wasn't bad enough, he'd heard wailing of someone in the background.  Voldemort had laughed, and then Harry's nightmare faded into darkness.     

Harry must have been looking out the window for much longer than he realized when he noticed that the sun was already creeping up into the sky.  The sun's rays were still pink, orange, and purple, and Harry watched the sun rise over Surrey before the yell of Aunt Petunia told him that it was time to appear downstairs and make breakfast.  

  
Before he went down the stairs, Harry looked at his calendar.  Only one more week until he got to go to the Burrow; hopefully it would only be one more week of these bloody nightmares that kept on coming back to him.  Maybe Ron would have an idea of what the nightmares meant, or maybe he could ask another friend, Hermione Granger.  Either way, the idea of spending the rest of the summer at the Burrow cheered him up a bit, and he actually went to greet the Dursley's with a smile upon his face.

*

*

"Breakfast!" came the call of Molly Weasley, and soon after, many footsteps were heard running towards the kitchen.  Ginny was startled by the call; she had been staring out at the sunrise and must have finally dozed off on the windowsill.  She stood to go to breakfast when a quick glimpse in the mirror told her that her face had darker circles than ever, due to yet another nightmare.  She sighed, grabbed her wand, and said the spell for makeup – she hadn't shown anyone her 'true' face all summer, and now wouldn't be the time to start hearing from her mother about how worried she was about her.  Ginny quickly checked that the charm was perfectly in place before she headed down to breakfast, still in her nightclothes.  It was time for another lazy summer day, if anyone could truly be lazy at the Burrow.  De-gnoming the garden was on the calendar for today, Ginny knew, as well as weeding.  

Putting a smile on her face, Ginny saw what was on the calendar for next week:  Harry's visit, and Harry's birthday.  She still had a soft spot for Harry Potter, regardless if she admitted it or not, and she was looking forward to seeing him again.  She had gotten over her 'crush' long ago, back in her fourth year, but still couldn't help but smile at the thought of the nice, charming guy that she knew as her brother's best friend, and, as of the past year at Hogwarts, her own friend.  

As she nibbled at her breakfast, Ginny thought of the past year at Hogwarts.  Many things had happened, though none really dealing with Voldemort and Death Eaters, thank Merlin.  There had been the occasional missing Muggle, which was awful, but nothing near what had happened in her first or third years.  It had been one of the best years at school yet; Gryffindor had won the Quidditch Cup as well as the House Cup, and Ron had finally gotten up the nerve to ask Hermione out on a date.  Things had led on from there for Ginny's older brother, and he and Hermione were coming up on their one year anniversary soon.  It had been this relationship that had actually brought Ginny and Harry closer together; Harry had been sick of being somewhat of a 'third wheel' with his two best friends, and Ginny had seemed like the natural person for him to make friends with.

Ginny pushed her pancake around her plate at the thought of why Harry had made her the natural pick to be friends; she honestly didn't have many of her own.  There was her best friend, Dakota Ross, who was in her own year, of course, but other than that, Ginny's closest friends were Ron, Hermione and Harry.  She'd had a few boyfriends in her years at Hogwarts, but Colin Creevey just hadn't lasted – it had scared her when he'd known more about Harry than she did, and she was the one who was his friend.  So in the end, Colin was just a friend, and Ginny was by herself.  Not that she minded, really, but it did get to be quite lonesome when she only had four or five close friends.  It had made her year, last year, when she and Harry had gotten closer.

A soft 'zing' made Ginny's head shoot up, and she saw Fred and George fake dueling with their wands over the last biscuit.  While they were arguing about who had won, Ginny snatched the biscuit and walked upstairs to change.  She had work in the garden to do.


	3. Chapter Two Friendly arrivals

Disclaimer:  It's only the second chapter, and I'm already sick of these things.  However, you know the drill:  if you recognize it, most likely it's JK Rowling's and not mine.  I do, however, take credit for the characters that are new, please don't take them.  

Hopefully, some of your questions will be answered in this chapter and the next one.  I'm trying to write everything while it's still in my head, so I'm trying not to skip important stuff…

Chapter Two 

The next few days passed rather quickly for Ginny, as her mother kept her busy with housework and in the garden.  She was more tired than ever, but she wouldn't even dream about telling her mother the reason why.  She could imagine the visits to the doctors, the letters to Dumbledore…no, she certainly didn't want half of the wizarding community to know that she was having nightmares about Voldemort and having what she thought to be glimpses of the past.  Besides that, though, she didn't want to face the harsh reality that Voldemort was somehow getting to her again, that he was somehow breaking her to the point of where she had no control over it.  It didn't matter that she couldn't understand why or how she was having these nightmares, but it scared her too much for her to actually think about how Voldemort was holding power over her again.

Before Ginny knew it, the date was July 30th, and Harry would be arriving at noon by floo powder. She took extra care that day to wake up early and make sure that her 'Cosmeticos' charm was in place perfectly.  The last thing that she needed was Harry to say something about her health to her family.  So that meant that Ginny woke and showered before half of her family was even awake, and she covered her pale skin as always.  Her nightmares had not actually been that bad the night before; they were the same ones over and over again.  She dressed again in her favorite shorts and tank top.  Ginny was putting the final touches of the Muggle makeup on herself, and she dropped the tube of lip gloss as someone knocked on her door.   

"Come in," she called, reaching under her vanity for the small tube.  Her fist finally closed over the gloss, and she looked up to see who it was that had knocked on her door and entered the doorway. 

The sight of a rather tall, brown haired young woman greeted Ginny, and she jumped up and hugged the woman impulsively.  "Hermione!" Ginny said, "Gads, you look so different!"  Hermione hugged her back.

It was true; Hermione certainly had changed over the summer.  Her long-ago bushy hair had been smoothed over by a charm since her fifth year, but it was Hermione's face that had changed.  Gone were the childish cheeks and eyes; in their place stood beautiful cheekbones and arched eyebrows over lovely brown eyes lined carefully with the same Muggle makeup that Ginny used.  Hermione wore Muggle clothing, also, and Ginny would bet anything that Ron wouldn't complain about how they looked on his girlfriend.   

The girls pulled away from the hug and smiled; they hadn't seen each other in over a month and a half.  "Gin, you look different, too.  I can't really place why…Merlin, you're so thin though!"  Hermione looked over her friend critically, and besides seeing that Ginny was thinner than ever, she couldn't really see a difference in her besides the fact that she wore more makeup. 

Ginny noticed the critical gaze of her friend and looked down.  "I thought you weren't supposed to come here 'til tomorrow?" she asked, trying to change the subject without Hermione realizing it.  It was true; Ron had been ecstatic all week that his best friend and girlfriend were visiting only one day apart from each other.

Hermione smiled.  "I wasn't supposed to, but my parents were out of town and I was sick of being alone in my house," she raised her eyebrow, "and it wouldn't hurt to surprise Ron, now would it?"  A smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

Ginny couldn't help but laugh.  Over the past year, Hermione had really come out of her shell.  No longer was she afraid of what people would think about her or that she would get caught doing something wrong.  She had developed a very mischievous mind, and Ginny couldn't help but accredit it to her hanging around with her brother and Harry.  "So, go on up…I'd like to see what Ron will do when you surprise him like this."

Hermione smiled again, and tossed the bag she had on her shoulder to the floor.  As always, she would be staying in Ginny's room on a makeshift bed on the floor; no one would have it any other way.  Hermione ran up the stairs to Ron's room, and about two seconds later, Ginny heard a loud exclamation from her brother who had undoubtedly just woke up.  Still laughing, Ginny decided that she didn't really want to see the way that Ron greeted Hermione, and she went down to the kitchen.  

Seeing that the clock for all of her brothers – besides Ron, now – read 'In Bed', Ginny headed for the kitchen.  Her mother was cooking away already, chattering to her father about how nice it was to have such a full house.  Ginny grabbed a small banana from the basket on the table and took it to the living room to eat while she read one of Ron's old school books for Charms.  She had a knack for them, or so she was told, and enjoyed reading about what different charms could do.  This time, though, she was trying to find a charm to cast on herself for dreamless sleep. Merlin knew how much it would help her.

Ginny absentmindedly flipped through the book without paying much attention to it.  Just scanning the main topics, she kept getting interrupted by the noise from the kitchen, in which the rest of her family, plus Hermione, were eating breakfast.  Sighing, she slammed the book shut after realizing that dreams just weren't covered in it, and heard Bill talking about an article in the _Daily Prophet_.  

"Look, Dad, it says that another Muggle family disappeared again…ooooh, Perce, you might wanna report to the Ministry today, it looks like you'll have a lot to handle.  Minister Fudge is still blatantly denying that Volde – er, You Know Who has had anything to do with these."  Bill sighed.  "When will he realize that he's come back?"

A silence rang throughout the usually noisy kitchen, as they all pondered the question and the dark times that most likely lay ahead.  The only thing that could be heard was the ghoul in the attic, deciding to break the silence with a few loud crashes and a bang.  At the sounds, everyone sprang to life again, although with nowhere near the energy that they had had just a few minutes ago.

Ginny thought about what she'd heard Bill saying.  Another Muggle family was missing, that was awful.  But it also meant that Voldemort was probably gaining more power again, too, to blatantly kidnap a Muggle family.  She involuntarily shuddered; if that was true, then it might explain why her nightmares had gotten worse the past few weeks.  She looked in at her family over the back of the couch she had been sitting on.  Her mother was busy trying to fill the twins' plates again, and the twins were smiling at the food heaped in front of them. 'They never grow up,' Ginny couldn't help but think.  She had the same thought when she looked at Bill and Charlie, who, regardless of their ages, were busy trying to tease Ron about Hermione waking him up.  Ron and Hermione were both very light shades of pink as they tried to deny all of the joking accusations being shot their way.  Ginny smiled again, and her eyes moved on to her father and Percy, conversing over a happening at the Ministry.  

She leaned back and sighed.  'Why do I have these bloody nightmares?' she asked herself, 'I don't quite understand them…'  It was true, Ginny honestly didn't understand why she was having the nightmares.  Sure, she'd had some like this ever since the incident with Tom Riddle and the Chamber of Secrets, but it scared her how they were changing and affecting her.  She looked down, playing with the edge of the cushion of the couch as she thought.  It was getting ridiculous, really, that these nightmares kept on coming back to her night after night.  It was getting to the point where she thought that they were trying to tell her something.  What, she didn't know, but since they kept on repeating night after night, she had that idea.  She bit her lip in concentration, a habit she'd had for as long as she could remember.  

In all honesty, Ginny was sick of having the nightmares.  Not that she'd enjoyed them or anything in the beginning, but now she'd let them go for so long without telling anyone that she was afraid how they would react if she _did_ say something about them.  She could easily see anyone in her family yelling at her about not coming to them sooner, and even Hermione was out because she'd get just as angry.  No one in her family would quite understand where she was coming from on the topic of the dreams.  

She sighed, and stopped playing with the couch cushion before she put a hole in it.  She was sick of being so secretive; it wasn't that she didn't want to tell anyone of the nightmares, it was beyond that.  It was just that she was scared of saying anything because she'd kept quiet for so long.  She stopped biting on her lip as she saw Ron and Hermione enter the room, and then a loud 'bang' came from the fireplace, meaning only one thing.

Harry Potter had arrived at the Burrow.

*

*

Harry was met with many hugs and handshakes when he entered the Weasley's fireplace, and for the first time in months, he felt like he was actually home.  Mrs. Weasley had scrutinized him as she always had, exclaiming how the Muggles didn't take good enough care of him and that he needed to gain some weight before returning to Hogwarts.  He had heard Ginny scoff at that comment; he didn't know if it was because her mother was fussing over him so much, or if it was because she didn't believe the comment that her mother had made.  Harry actually had to agree with Ginny on this topic; his aunt and uncle had actually been kinder towards him this past summer compared to any other.  His tall frame had jumped up to just over six feet tall, and he'd actually kept the muscles that he'd developed from Quidditch training the year before.  He certainly was no longer the short, scrawny little boy; and although his hair was as messy as ever, it was kept in a shorter cut now and was somehow charmed away from his face.  This left his scar more visible to the naked eye, though, but he was so used to the stares that he really didn't care much about it anymore.  He'd accepted that it was a part of who he was, and that he couldn't change it.  What he didn't understand was why people still marveled about it, almost 16 years after the fact. 

After unpacking his things into Ron's room, Harry, Ron and Hermione were in Ron's room, talking.  Harry had wanted to know everything that he could about news in the wizarding community; he hadn't been able to read the newspaper since leaving Hogwarts.  Ron and Hermione had reluctantly admitted that more and more Muggles were coming up missing, and that it was suspected that Voldemort was getting stronger.  Harry had expected this news, although it wasn't something that he had wanted to hear.

It was quiet for a few moments after that, when Ginny had walked by Ron's room on the way to see what Bill and Charlie were up to in the twins' room.  She heard the lull in the conversation, and curiosity got the best of her.  She quietly walked into the room and asked, "Have you heard from Snuffles lately?"

Ron and Hermione's heads shot over to face her when she asked the question; they'd had no idea the Ginny knew about Sirius Black and his relation to Harry.  Questioning glances were then set upon Harry, who shrugged in response to the unvoiced questions that he knew Ron and Hermione were asking.  "A few weeks ago…he says he and Buckbeak are doing well, although he's been avoiding my questions about Volde – erm, You Know Who."  Seeing Ron wince at the dark wizard's name, Harry had switched it half way through.  He looked back at Ginny to finish answering her question.  "I owled him earlier today though, to let him know that I'd be here, so we'll see if he sends anything back with Hedwig."

Ginny nodded at him, and smiled.  She hadn't expected Ron and Hermione to look at her like that when she'd asked the question; she supposed that they hadn't realized how close she and Harry had gotten last year.  "I was just curious."

With that said, Ginny turned, and went back down a few stairs until she reached her own room.  Having Harry at the Burrow somehow brought a calming presence to her; she was always uneasy whenever he was back at Privet Drive.  Sure, he looked a bit pale and tired, but he was still Harry, and he was safe.  That thought in mind, Ginny actually lay down on her bed and closed her eyes in hopes to have an uneventful catnap before dinner.


	4. Chapter Three Revelations

Thanks for all the reviews, everyone, I'm so happy that you all like it!  This is the first story that I've ever put up on-line, so I hope that the rest of it goes well, too.  Just so you know, what I have in mind is a pretty long story, so it'll be awhile before it's finished.  And don't worry, you'll get to see some H/G-ness soon, too!

Animegirl-mika – your idea is actually kind of like my first one, but I hope you like the way that Harry will find out!

Disclaimer:  Look at the other chapters if you really want to see.  It's not all mine, most of it belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter Three 

After Ginny had left Ron's room, both Ron and Hermione had asked questions a mile a minute.  His head spun with the amount of questions that the couple had thought of in just a few moments, and finally he put his head in his hands until they realized that he wasn't listening to them anymore.

Once they were quiet, Harry looked up at them.  "Are you done yet so I can talk?"  he asked.  Both of his friends nodded silently, and Harry explained how Ginny had known about Snuffles.  "You guys know that Ginny and I got to be pretty close friends last year…well, it's kind of a big secret to keep away from my friends, so I told her about my godfather.  Nothing big."

Ron looked at him. "Nothing big?  You just go around telling people that the man people think murdered your parents is your godfather, and that you're helping him hide from the dementors of Azkaban?  You go around, telling them that he's an illegal animagus?  You tell them that…"

Before he could even finish the sentence, Harry held his hand up to stop him. "Ron!  Honestly, do you think that I go around telling the whole bloody school about Sirius?  I told your sister, Ron, and if you hadn't noticed, she happened to keep the secret quite well."

Ron opened his mouth to say something else, but closed it again before he had the chance.  He realized that Harry made sense, until something else popped into his mind.  "Exactly how close did you get to my sister last year, Harry?  That's a pretty big secret to just trust any friend with, you know?"  His brown eyes studied his friend carefully for any sign of anything but friendship for his sister.  Hermione hid a smile behind one of her hands; she knew that Ginny still somewhat liked Harry, but wanted to see what Harry would say in response to Ron's direct question.

Harry hadn't really expected this question, although he did have an answer for it.  "What's it to you, honestly, Ron?  Ginny is my friend, Merlin knows that neither Ginny or I have that many, and is something wrong in me befriending your sister while you and Hermione are off together?"

Ron took the hint and let the subject drop; he'd gotten the jab that he and Hermione sometimes made him feel left out in the group of friends.  "Sorry, mate…it's just, she surprised me there."

Harry nodded.  Before he had the chance to answer, Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs that supper was ready.  Ron and Hermione immediately took off down the stairs, while Harry stepped back and shut his trunk.  After he waited for Bill, Charlie, Percy and the twins to walk by the doorway, Harry started to make his way down the stairs.  

"Harry, get Ginny on your way down, I don't know if she heard me," Mrs. Weasley called, and Harry had to retreat a few steps to go back to Ginny's room.  It was strange, he thought, as he'd never actually been in her room before in all the years that he'd known her.  He knew where it was, he'd just never had to enter it.  He knocked softly on the door, and waited a few moments.  She didn't answer, so Harry tried the door.  It was unlocked, so he slowly opened it up.  "Gin?"  He asked, softly enough so he wouldn't scare her if she were sleeping.

His eyes couldn't help but take in the surroundings after he saw that she was asleep, curled up in a little ball on her bed.  Her room was a very pale blue, and the ceiling was enchanted to look like a sunny sky, complete with clouds.  Bookshelves took up almost one whole wall, and her bed was big, making her look tiny as she lay there.  He went over to the bed and gently shook her arm.  She immediately lifted her head from her hand, and blinked sleepily.

"Harry?"  She asked, not used to seeing him back at the Burrow yet, let alone in her room.

"Supper time," Harry said, and he noted that Ginny quickly wiped under her eyes, as if she was afraid that a few tears had leaked out.  Concern suddenly showed up in his eyes, "Gin, are you okay?"

She quickly nodded.  "Yeah.  Yeah, I'm fine."  However, she avoided his eyes when she said this, and she stood up.  "Let's get to dinner, shall we, before they send a search party."

*

*

"Eh, what do you say about having a Quidditch game tomorrow to celebrate your birthday, Harry?" The question came from Ron towards the end of a delicious meal cooked by Mrs. Weasley.  Harry felt as if he would explode from eating so much good food.  

Harry smiled at the mention of his birthday.  Not only would he be turning 17, but it meant that he would be able to legally do magic outside of Hogwarts.  To him, the perfect way of spending his special birthday was at the Burrow; celebrating it with the people that he honestly considered family.  Of course, it would be better if Sirius could be there, but Harry knew that if it were possible, he would be there. 

"A Quidditch game sounds great, Ron.  Maybe we could even get Charlie and Bill up there with the rest of us?"  Harry asked, his eyebrows raised at the two eldest Weasley brothers.  Harry knew that Charlie had been a bloody good Seeker in his time at Hogwarts, and loved to play against him.  

Both Bill and Charlie agreed to the game as the plates from the table floated up to the sink, courtesy of Mrs. Weasley.  "Ron, Ginny, could you two finish the dishes, please?"

Groans came from the two siblings, as well as a scrunched up nose from Ginny in response to the daily question.  "But Mum, we have _guests_!" Ron exclaimed, trying to get out of the troublesome chore.  Harry and Hermione hid smiles; Ron used this excuse every time that they came to the Burrow.

"Good point, dear.  This time I'll actually let you use that excuse.  Fred, George, please do the dishes."  Mrs. Weasley said, and now the twins both groaned.  The got up from the table and headed towards the sink, mumbling about which trick they would pull on Ron next.  They had quite a hard time deciding which new trick to use; Weasley's Wizard Wheezes had become a very successful shop in Hogsmeade.  It was a favorite of Hogwarts students, as well as some of the more childish parents.  Harry knew that Sirius and his father would shop there, if they could, as well as the rest of the Mauraders.

As the twins washed the dishes, the rest of the Weasley clan dispersed.  Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny headed off to the family room for a game or two of wizarding chess; Mr. Weasley had pulled the rest of the boys outside to do some quick magic out on the lawn to expand the picnic tables and amount of chairs for mealtimes the next day.  Harry smiled as he saw chairs floating in the air a few moments later, as well as hearing as scoff from Percy.  No matter how old Bill and Charlie were, it was obvious that they were Weasley's!  A sound from the chessboard brought his attention back to the game of chess in front of him; one of Ron's chessmen had just attacked one of his.  Grimly, Harry studied the board for his next move.  Life in the Weasley house went on as normal.

*

*

_Ginny once again stood inside the faded yellow room that held a crib and a rocking chair.  She smiled sadly at the little stuffed bunny in the crib who was still trying to hop out.  Ginny didn't take the time to tickle it this time; she knew what was coming, and her heart wrenched at the fact that she couldn't warn the happy family of what was going to happen. _

_A loud crash came from down the stairs, and Ginny heard a woman scream. Ginny ran out of the nursery to see what was happening. The woman with dark red hair was holding something wrapped in a light green blanket, satisfying Ginny's suspicion that she had the baby.  She was scurrying away from the door as the man yelled for her to go, that he would stop whoever it was that was obviously intruding. Another, louder bang sounded as the front door fell to the floor, and Ginny saw a figure dressed in black robes towering over the man.  This time, Ginny saw that the man, whom she presumed to be the husband of the red-headed woman, had dark hair that was almost black and was very untidy.  She gasped as she realized what this meant; surely this was James and Lily Potter, and little Harry back in Godrics Hollow that fitful night back in 1981. What else could it be?_

_The man screamed something that Ginny didn't pick up on because of her sudden realization, and then the woman screamed again, terrified.  Then everything went gray._

Ginny's eyes opened frantically, letting more tears escape down to her cheeks.  A sob broke out from her throat before she could stop it, and she sat up only to bury her head into her hands.  How awful it was, to see this vision.  The couple was terrified; Ginny couldn't even imagine feeling as much terror as she had heard in the woman's scream.  She held back another sob as she heard another noise coming from up the stairs; she grabbed her wand and immediately cast a silencing spell around her room.  She was still a year off from being able to do magic legally outside of school, but there was so much magic going on at the Burrow that the Ministry didn't bother sending any notices about underage magic.  She looked around her room for Hermione until she remembered that the twins had gone back to their shop in Hogsmeade for the night, so Hermione was staying in their room.  

She sat back in bed, the tears still unashamedly coming down her face.  It had been the same dream again that she'd had many times before; this time, though, she had seen extra details that she never had before.  She had actually seen the dark red haired woman carrying the baby in a blanket; she had actually seen the dark, untidy hair that she had heard characterized of James Potter, Harry's father.  And what else could it be, besides the night that Voldemort himself had attacked the Potters?  She just didn't understand; she didn't understand why she was having the visions, why she was having the nightmares.  More tears rolled down her face as she thought of the toll that they had taken on her; she didn't have to look in the mirror to know that her face was pale with dark, dark circles under her eyes.  She curled up into a ball on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest.  She silently cried, her body rocking because she was holding her sobs in.  She closed her eyes, only to open them and whip her head around in shock when she heard someone speak her name.

Harry Potter was standing in her doorway.  "Ginny?  What's wrong?"

*

*

Harry had been walking down the stairs after his own nightmare when he had heard a choked sob coming from the floor below him.  Knowing that Ginny's room was the only room on that floor of the Weasley's uneven, magical little house, he had immediately grown concerned.  He had thought that something was wrong with her before, when he had woken her up from her nap before dinner, but he just couldn't figure out what it was.  So when he had heard the sob, his thoughts of his own nightmare had fled from his brain in concern for Ginny.  However, since that sob had sounded throughout the hallway, he heard nothing else.  'Silencing spell,' he thought, and quietly walked down the few stairs until he was at Ginny's door.  He listened for a moment, then looked around.  He didn't really want to be caught going into Ginny's room in the middle of the night; that certainly wouldn't go over well with any of the Weasley's. His first thought was that Hermione would be comforting her if something was wrong, but then he remembered that she was over in Fred and George's room.  Harry knocked quietly a few times, but there was no answer.  Shrugging, he gently tried the doorknob.  It was open.  

The sight on the bed wrenched his heart in an unfamiliar way.  There was Ginny, curled up on her bed like she had been before dinner, but now she was silently sobbing.  The sheet and quilt were drawn up around her, but he could still tell that she was curled up into the fetal position.  He saw the light coming in from the window reflecting off of her face, so he knew that she was crying.  

"Ginny?  What's wrong?"  He spoke gently, almost as if he was talking to a child. 

Ginny's head whipped towards the door, and she took in the sight before her.  Harry, still clad in flannel pajama pants and a sleeveless white undershirt, stood just inside her doorway with a look of utmost concern on his face.  Instead of hiding her face like she had been doing all summer when a member of her family woke her up, she just started crying harder.  Harry shut the door quietly and walked towards the bed, extremely confused as to what was going on.  Why had she started crying harder when she saw him?  It didn't make sense.  

"Gin?"  He asked, his confusion evident in his voice.

Without thinking, Ginny sat up and hugged him as soon as he was close enough.  "Oh, Merlin, Harry, it was so awful, and it was the same one this time, but it was different, and –''  She realized what she was doing and saying, and immediately pulled back and tried to hide her face.  Now, Harry was really confused.

"Okay, Ginny, what happened?"  Harry pulled the wooden chair that was in the corner of her room over to the side of her bed and sat down on it.  

Ginny felt his presence close to her side, and she knew that he wouldn't be leaving until she explained what had happened to make her cry, and to make her grab at him like she had.  Trying to stop crying, she took a few deep breaths to calm her down.  'Gads, this is gonna be hard,' she thought.  Then, she turned to face Harry.

If the drastic change in her appearance from that day scared Harry, he didn't show it at all.  He did take in the pale skin and the dark circles under her eyes, but what concerned him the most was that she was still crying a little bit.  "What is it?  Merlin, Ginny, something has got to be wrong…you, you look as if you've seen a ghost, and it looks like you've been seeing it every night since Hogwarts or something."

Ginny let out a small laugh before biting down on her lip.  Her voice quivered a little as she spoke quietly.  "You've just about hit the nail on the head, if I got the expression right."

She could hear Harry's deep intake of breath at that.  "What?  You're having some visions or something?  You're a Seer?  What is it, for goodness sakes?"  He noticed that she was trembling, and instinctively took one of her hands.  It was cold, freezing cold.  "Gin, it'll be okay, but you've got to tell _some_one."

Ginny took another deep breath and let it out slowly.  Somehow, just feeling Harry's hand in hers gave her a little bit of strength.  It reminded her that it was Harry; the same guy who had seen her at her worst, the same guy whom she had told her entire life story.  The same guy that just…understood her in ways that her family didn't.    Yes, if she had to tell someone, then she was happy for it to be Harry.

"Harry, it's just…I haven't told anyone, and they're getting worse."

Harry almost growled in frustration that she wasn't telling him anything flat out.  "What?  What haven't you told anyone?"  He gave her hand a little squeeze.

She looked him dead in the eyes.  "I'm having nightmares, Harry," she finally admitted, but quickly added, "Not just normal ones, though.  It's like…it's like some of them are happening right now, but some of them happened a long time ago.  And they're…" She closed her eyes before saying slowly, "They're about Voldemort, Harry, and the things that's he done.  Or what he's doing.  Oh, I don't _know _what they're about, all I know is that he's in them, and…"  Tears started to run slowly down her face again.  She opened her eyes, so blurry brown met dark green.  "Harry, I think you should know about the other ones I've been having."

Harry, still halfway stunned that she had said Voldemort's name with such confidence, just looked at her.  From the looks of it, she certainly wasn't having just any old nightmares; it looked as if she was having the kind of nightmares that he had been having lately.  That thought scared him, but what scared him even more was the look that she was giving him as she was about to reveal what one of her nightmares was about.


	5. Chapter Four Harry's 17th

I'm putting up the chapters just as soon as I edit them, guys, so I'm going as fast as I can J

Oh, and candledot…hmmm…you might be onto something, **wink, wink**

Chapter Four

Harry sat at the side of Ginny's bed, looking at her expectantly.  If she thought that he needed to hear one of her nightmares, then it must be really serious; in all the time that he had known Ginny, he had learned one major thing about her: she liked being independent.  Ginny Weasley was a person who, at least after her first year of school at Hogwarts, hated to have to depend on any person, no matter who it was.  Of course, she loved her family and friends and confided in them, but she almost never gave them the burden of a secret or anything of that sort.  It just wasn't her nature.  Ginny liked doing things her own way, and didn't care that other people may not have seen her reasoning for them.  She kept most things to herself, and liked it that way.  

That was the main reason why Harry wasn't extremely concerned that she hadn't been telling anyone about the nightmares.  If they were that serious, he reckoned, then Ginny would have enough sense to tell someone about them.  'Actually,' Harry thought, looking at her face, 'This does seem pretty serious.'  That thought made him even more curious about what Ginny was about to tell him, and he snapped his attention back to the young woman on the bed.  

Ginny was extremely nervous to be telling Harry about the nightmares.  She glanced over at his face; his expression was almost unreadable.  She didn't really know how to begin, but she supposed that the Chamber of Secrets would be a logical place to start.  Looking down at her hand that Harry was holding, she finally started talking in a hushed voice, almost as if it hurt her to be speaking the words.  "I've had some nightmares like this ever since the Chamber of Secrets was opened, but lately…lately, they've gotten out of hand."  That wasn't so bad, telling him that.  She took a deep breath and started again.  "I used to just see you fighting Tom back in my first year.  I didn't even think anything of it until I realized that I wasn't awake to see you fight him, but there I was, watching you do it just as I've heard you tell people about it."

Harry nodded, but didn't say anything.  He knew from experience that once you started talking, you didn't want to stop for interruptions – especially when the things you were talking about were unpleasant.  He watched her as she spoke; she was still looking down at the hand that he held in his own.  "Those dreams didn't come every night, though.  And I didn't have any for so long…I'd have a few whenever something big was going on with the Death Eaters, but I thought that I was just dreaming about it because of what I read.  But this summer came…"

She hesitated, and Harry gave her hand another gentle squeeze.  Clasping his hand just a little bit tighter, she continued her story.  "Now, I still see the Chamber of Secrets sometimes.  Sometimes it's empty with just the basilisk inside it, rotting.  But sometimes He's there, and he's not alone.  I…I see him torturing Wormtail, Harry.  I hear them talking, I can hear Wormtail screaming and Him laughing.  Merlin, it's such an awful laugh…so evil."  Her head turned as she involuntarily shuddered, and he saw a pained look in her eyes, as if she was debating whether or not to tell him something.  Then she looked down again and continued, though with a whispered, quivering voice.  "I hear him plotting his next attack on you, Harry."

Harry wasn't entirely shocked at this; in fact, it seemed like many of the dreams that he'd been having lately.  What he was shocked at, though, was that it was Ginny who was having these visions, and in so much detail.  He shook his head in sympathy; he wouldn't wish these nightmares on Malfoy.  Harry himself had it bad enough, and half the time, he could only hear the voices.  It sounded like Ginny always saw everything, and that had to be hard.  'It _is_ hard on her, look at her face,' he told himself.

He looked at her and how insecure she looked, sitting there.  "I've had that dream before," he said softly.  "It's bloody awful." 

She nodded miserably, and then took yet another deep breath to help calm her nerves a little bit.  "That's not the worst one I've had, though," she said.  She didn't really want to tell him of her visions of the young couple and baby, but she thought that he had the right to know if it was his parents that she was seeing.  He looked at her questioningly.  "Harry, do you remember anything about the house that your parents lived in?" she asked cautiously, not really knowing how he would take the question.

That was one of the last things that Harry would have expected to come out of her mouth.  What did this have to do with any nightmares?  He blinked a couple times before he answered.  "No…nothing.  I don't even remember my parents, let alone the house."  It wasn't said in a malicious way; it was instead said in such a painfully honest way that made Ginny second guess herself about if she should tell him or not.  Deciding that she had better tell him now, she went on.

"Well, in one of the nightmares that I have, I'm there, I think.  I'm not quite sure, but I'm in a nursery with these yellow walls.  It's such a nice little room, and you can tell that the parents loved this baby…but I'm in this room, and it's so peaceful.  Then I hear these bangs on the door, and I run out into the hallway."  She turned her head so she was looking at his face as she said the next part, almost afraid to see what his reaction would be.  "I hear more bangs, and a man yelling for someone to go, that he'll stop whoever is there."

She started choking up a little bit, so she paused.  When she started again, it was with more tears coming down her face from remembering the horrific scenes that played out perfectly in her head.  "I see…I see a woman with long, dark red hair running with this blanket in her hands.  It's a green blanket, I remember that for some reason, and she's running away from the door.  Then, there are more bangs, and I can see someone in a black robe in the doorway.  The man who is in the house doesn't back down though.  He's got this dark, untidy hair…"  Her voice drifted off a little bit at that, and at the sight of Harry's face.  He couldn't believe what he was hearing; why on earth would Ginny be seeing his parents?

"Then I just hear this bloody awful scream, and then I wake up.  Every time, that's where I wake up."  Ginny started crying again, and looked at Harry.  "What do they mean, Harry?  And why are they getting worse?"

After recovering from the shock of Ginny's story, Harry carefully studied her.  She was miserable, and it was obvious that she was scared.  Without even thinking, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her in a hug.  She hesitated for a moment, then leaned into the much needed comfort of the embrace.  It felt so good to have finally told someone about the nightmares, although she suddenly felt this…vulnerability.  What if Harry thought that she was crazy?  What if he didn't believe her?  Those thoughts only made her cry harder, and she clung onto Harry tighter.  Her face was buried in his undershirt, but neither of them showed any sign of letting go soon.  

Harry rested his chin gently on the top of her head, trying to think of what to tell her, now that she'd told him.  In all honesty, he hadn't been expecting this at all.  He'd thought that the nightmares would just be about her experience with Tom Riddle or something like that; that, he would be able to deal with.  These visions she was having though, confused him greatly.  He knew that he had had the first dream before, though, and that was what puzzled him the most.  Why were they seeing the same things?  And, even more importantly, what did her last dream mean?

Hearing her sniffle again brought Harry back to the present day. He rubbed Ginny's back a little bit, only then was it that he became aware that she was in her nightclothes, which consisted of a thin camisole and a pair of gray shorts.  It was then that she pulled back, though, and his thoughts changed once again to the task at hand: calming her down before he got caught in her room in the middle of the night. 

"It's better when you tell someone, isn't it."  He said it as a statement, not a question, and she nodded.  "I don't really know what to say, Gin."  He looked down at her pale face again, and his heart wrenched.  The poor girl had just poured her heart out to him, and he didn't know what to say to her.  "Hey," he said, reaching out to tilt her chin up, "It'll be okay.  We just have to find out why you're having these…dreams."

She nodded.  Leave it to Harry to figure out something practical to do about them.  Then a thought passed through her mind, and she looked up at his face with big eyes.  "Please, promise you won't tell my family about the nightmares."

Harry didn't know what to do…Ron would know that something was up with him, but on the other hand, he knew that Ginny didn't want the whole family to go into 'overprotective brother' mode.  The pleading look on her face finalized it for him.  "I won't tell anyone, but if they get worse, then you'll have to.  Look at yourself, Gin.  Look what it's doing to you."  It was true, even she had to admit that; the dreams were taking their toll on her, slowly but surely.  She slowly nodded. 

"Fine.  If they get any worse, we can ask someone about them.  But please, Harry.  Don't tell them."  

He agreed.  A few awkward moments later, he started to turn for the door.  "I guess I'd better get up to Ron's room before he notices me missing."  Ginny nodded, and watched him walk a few steps.

"Wait!" She said, another thought coming to her, and he turned around.  "What were you doing up, anyways?"

He looked at her and sadly grinned.  "Scar hurt."

Ginny nodded, and watched him in the moonlight as he turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door silently.  She climbed back into bed, and, hoping that she wouldn't have anymore nightmares, closed her eyes.  'I suppose that went as well as it could have…' she thought to herself, and she rolled over and tried to fall asleep.

*

*

July 31st arrived as any other day did; sunlight streaked the sky slowly at first, and then faster.  Few clouds were seen her and there, and the bright blue of the sky made for an extremely gorgeous day.  Crickets chirped, birds sang, and the water in the lake on one side of Ottery St. Catchpole gurgled peacefully as the day began.  It was not so, however, in one seemingly magical household on the edge of town.

"AAAH!  Fred and George Weasley, show yourselves this instant!"  came an anguished cry of Molly Weasley, and the peacefulness of the morning was broken.  

Despite the fact that Fred and George had spent the night at the tiny apartment above their shop in Hogsmeade, they had apparated at the Burrow before anyone else was awake.  And, it seemed, they had already been up to their old trick of enchanting certain items in the kitchen to float around after being in use for a few moments.  Two identical red heads poked around the corner of the doorway that attached the kitchen to the family room with seemingly innocent expressions on their faces.  "What do you want?"  they asked at the same time.

Mrs. Weasley didn't look amused as a coffee maker flew behind her head, and a skillet began to float above the refrigerator.  Even the oven door had started to detach itself from its place, revealing a cake that was cooked halfway.  Her normally pretty face was tinged pink with anger, clashing greatly with her bright red hair.  One glare towards the boys made them both gulp, and instantly the gadgets in the kitchen went back to their rightful place.  She turned without saying a word to the two boys, and finished mixing the waffle batter for breakfast.  Molly Weasley had her way about the kitchen, and couldn't stand for anyone to mess it up.  She grumbled a bit about how the last thing she needed was for Harry's birthday cake to be ruined because of a detached oven door, and then finished making breakfast.

Hermione was actually the first of the 'children' to rise that day; Fred and George hadn't realized that she would be staying in their room and they had accidentally woken her up when they'd noisily barged into their room.  She didn't really mind much, aside from the fact that they had scared the daylights out of her when they'd started working on one of their noisier tricks before seeing that she was in one of the beds.  They'd actually apologized, and Hermione was on her way down to Ginny's room to grab her shower things before anyone else was up in the house.  

After her shower and putting on a different set of Muggle clothing, Hermione dried her hair the wizard way:  she pointed her wand at her head and simple said a few words.  The result was not just dry hair, as the Muggles got with their hair dryers – her hair was styled just as she wanted it as well, smooth and shiny.  She again aimed her wand at herself and said the same charm that Ginny used to put on her makeup, then walked down to the kitchen to see if Ron's mother wanted any help.  When she entered the kitchen, she couldn't help but smile at all the fuss that Mrs. Weasley was making over Harry's birthday.  'It's about time he had a proper birthday party with his friends,' she mused as she watched chocolate frosting go on the yellow cake, 'and it's just appropriate that it's for his 17th!'

She cleared her throat a little bit before she spoke so she wouldn't startle the woman who was taking great care frosting the corners of the cake.  "Would you like any help, Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione asked.  Mrs. Weasley raised her head and smiled at the question; she really liked Hermione.  What she saw in her youngest son, she never knew, because these two people seemed as different as night and day, but she absolutely adored Hermione.  She was always so thoughtful.

She looked relieved at the question.  "Yes, dear, if you don't mind setting the table?"  She pointed her wand at a cupboard to open the door, and stacks of plates and cups were seen.  She repeated the same thing with a drawer, and shiny silverware was lined up inside.  

"No problem!"  Hermione set to her task, trying to remember the exact number of plates and such to have.  It was a great deal more than the three she always got out at home with her parents!  Eleven, she thought, with all the Weasley's, plus Harry and herself.  She set about setting the table while the rest of the family came down the stairs at various intervals.

*

*

Ginny awoke the next morning feeling tired, yet somewhat refreshed.  'At least more than I have been lately,' she thought as she slipped her feet in slippers.  She looked in the mirror after she got out of bed.  Honestly, she didn't think that she looked as bad as she had just the day before.  Maybe half of what was making her so ashen was the fact that she was stressing out over her nightmares, trying to keep them a secret.  Her face still looked much paler than it should have, and there were darker shades of circles under her eyes, but she didn't look as…exhausted as she had been.  'Thank Merlin,' she thought as she quickly got ready to go down to breakfast.  Having taken a shower the night before, she just put on her favorite outfit again; the white tank top and the short jean shorts.  She muttered her charm for makeup while she aimed her wand at herself, then stuck her wand in her back pocket.  Making sure that it was secure, Ginny looked over to the dresser, where she had put Harry's present the day before.  It was wrapped in simple yellow wrapping paper, but she supposed that it didn't really matter anyways.  

She opened her door as she heard footsteps on the stairway, and met Ron and Harry on one of the landings to the steps.  Ron was still too tired to say much, but Harry looked at her, studying how she looked.  She gave him a small smile to say that she was alright before she quietly said, "Happy Birthday, Harry."  He smiled back at that, and gave her his thanks.  She'd been the first to say it to him, even Ron had been too groggy to tell him when they woke up.

The rest of the family was already downstairs at the kitchen table when they got there, and everyone was quick to say "Happy Birthday" to Harry.  The twins, noting that he was now 17, demanded that he do some magic before he ate, 'just because he could now'.  So Harry had pondered what to do for a moment before turning to Ron and muttering a cheering charm.  Ron's eyes instantly opened all the way and a huge smile appeared on his face.  He was oblivious to what had happened, however, because his eyes had been closed when Harry had aimed his wand at him.  Everyone else at the table tried to cover their smiles and laughs, and breakfast continued.  Harry looked around at everyone and smiled; he'd never felt more at home anywhere, even at Hogwarts.  Here, he had people who genuinely cared for him, and he couldn't help but feel good about that.

*

*

Harry had a wonderful birthday, and couldn't keep a smile off of his face.  They had gone out to the makeshift Quidditch pitch, and had gotten even Mr. Weasley on a broom for awhile to play in a game with enchanted apples and oranges as the bludgers and quaffles.  They had used a small plum for the snitch, and Harry and Charlie were going back and forth catching it.  Although Harry's Firebolt was a bit faster than Charlie's old broom, Charlie still had a wonderful eye for the snitch and Harry just couldn't catch him once he had it in his vision.  The game had lasted the entire afternoon, and everyone took turns being the Chasers, Keepers, and Beaters on the small teams.  The sun was hot on their backs, and Ginny and Hermione were arguing about how unfair it was that the older boys took their shirts off when they got too warm in the middle of the game.  Both of them had stopped complaining, however, once Ron and Harry had exchanged a mischievous look and pulled off their shirts, also.  Hermione may have loved how muscular Ron looked without his shirt, but even she had to admit that Harry looked _very_ nice without his shirt on.  Sometime during the summer he had found the time to build up his stomach so that he had a very visible six pack and muscular chest.  She and Ginny had exchanged a glance of their own at that, and Ginny had glowed pink when she realized exactly what she was thinking about.  Hermione laughed, and they went back to concentrating on the game.  It was times like those that Ginny knew that she liked Harry as a bit more than a friend, but she didn't like admitting it to herself.

They had gone inside after that to cool off and eat dinner, and Mrs. Weasley had brought out a wonderful cake to help celebrate Harry's birthday.  He had blown out all of his candles, and all of them had enjoyed large pieces of Mrs. Weasley's homemade recipe.  Gifts were then brought out, and Harry couldn't believe all of the gifts that he had gotten.  Fred and George had given him a huge box full of their latest tricks and treats; they told him that many of them were still prototypes.  Ron had marveled at how generous the twins were being for once in their lives, and Harry just smiled at the twins in thanks while they went on about how good of a friend Harry was, and that they wanted him to help carry on the tradition of pulling pranks at school.  They still hadn't told anyone where they had gotten the money to open the shop yet, and Harry supposed that they didn't want anyone to find out any more than he did.  Hermione had outdone herself this year; instead of one helpful book, she got him a set of three:  _Seeker's Guide to Better Quidditch_, _The Seeker in the Real World,_ and _Lifestyles for Seekers –For Professional and Unprofessional Players_.  Harry loved them; he supposed that he'd be reading the last two the most this year, because he still hadn't really been thinking of what he wanted to do after he got out of Hogwarts.  Ron and Percy had actually teamed up on something for once in their lives, getting Harry a really nice case for his broom, which included pockets for a polishing kit, a cloak, and his wand. Bill had gotten him a tiny little plastic figurine of a stag that actually moved around and communicated with him.  He explained that it was because he knew his Patronus was the form of a stag, and Harry loved the gift and how much more it meant to him than just his Patronus form.  

Charlie had thought along the same lines of Bill, and had given him a small plastic dragon that did the same thing.  Harry supposed that this dragon could play with the one that he still had from the Triwizard Tournament, but it was immediately assumed that this dragon was a girl, because she was batting her lashes at the stag figurine.  They had gotten a good laugh when she began flying after the running stag; she was hovering a few inches off of the table in her effort to fly after him, and running into various objects on the table.  Hermione had scooped up the stag while the dragon was occupied with trying to get past a glass of pumpkin juice, and the stag sighed and curled up in her hand.  That gave Harry the chance to open up the other gifts; Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had gotten him a new cage for Hedwig, as hers was quite bent up after being dragged on and off the Hogwarts Express for six years, and Ginny had gotten him a Muggle artifact:  a dream catcher.   He had looked up at her with curiosity, and she had shyly explained what it was supposed to do.  He was extremely grateful, but couldn't help thinking that she was probably the one who could use it more.

Games of Exploding Snap and chess had been played for hours after dinner, and they were all fairly tired when everyone decided to get to bed.  All in all, Harry decided, he had had a pretty decent birthday.

Now if only he could figure out what Ginny's nightmares meant.  But that was for another day, and as Harry pulled the covers up over him, he glanced up at the dream catcher that he and Ron had hung in front of one of his windows.  He was asleep within minutes.

*

*

Over in her own room, Ginny also glanced out of the window.  She sighed as she got into bed, and a smile played its way across her face as she thought of the events of the day.  Hermione then walked into the room, as Fred and George were back for a few more nights, and they giggled over a few things like girls normally did.  As Hermione clicked off the light, Ginny couldn't help but pray to Merlin that she wouldn't have a nightmare.  It would be the perfect ending to a good day.


	6. Chapter Five Caught

Disclaimer:  Same as before.  I don't really own it unless you don't recognize it from the books.

  
Thanks for all the great reviews, guys, it really means a lot! J  I'll try to keep writing as fast as I can, and I hope you keep on liking it!

**Chapter Five**

The dungeon was dark, and the cement walls looked in danger of crumbling in some spaces.  There was no fire here to give the room any kind of glow; instead, this space almost radiated with a dark evil that could not be removed.  There was a hallway, surrounded with statues of Salazar Slytherin's beloved snakes, in which two figures were seen walking.  Both of them dressed in dark and thick robes, and one man was much smaller than the other.

"Why don't you know this, Wormtail?" a hissing voice echoed throughout the Chamber, and there was no mistaking who the voice belonged to.  The smaller man began trembling at the tone of voice that his Master was using with him.  

_"I-I-I-I just d-don't know yet, Mast-t-ter.  There is no w-way of me finding out unt-t-til it actually h-h-happens," the frightened man said, stumbling over his words in fear of what the more powerful wizard was going to do to him.  Slanted red eyes furrowed in anger, and it was obvious that this man didn't like what the other had to say._

_"This prophecy could be the downfall of me, and you can't even find out if it is going to happen or not, Wormtail?" the voice was getting edgier now, as the owner became more and more agitated.  It was true; the prophecy was the only thing on Voldemort's mind at the moment.  The prophecy, and how much time was left before the chance for it to happen would pass.  And Wormtail already was aware of how time was not working on their side, not with the Potter boy living with the Weasley's at the moment.  No, that situation was not one that was desired if they wanted the prophecy to pass and be proven wrong.  Not if they wanted the Potter boy dead, and his legacy along with him._

_Voldemort looked at Wormtail with ultimate disgust in his slanted eyes; the man honestly wasn't the wisest wizard that he knew.  In fact, half of the time he was downright dimwitted.  Why he had bestowed him the honor of the silver arm still baffled him at moments.  He was hardly being helpful now, although he had been immensely useful in the past years for gathering information about certain young wizards and witches that Voldemort knew he had to keep an eye on.  These past few years, though, his usefulness had dwindled, and he had almost no use for him now.  Except to try and get this last piece of information about the Potter boy.  Voldemort blinked a few times before he spoke this time, in an alarmingly calm voice.  "There are only ten moons left before this prophecy passes, you ingrate, less than a year.  The information that I asked you for is vital, Wormtail.  We must be prepared to stop the prophecy if it is in danger of being completed."_

_Wormtail nodded; this was information that he was reminded of over and over every day by his Master.  The Dark Lord would not let him forget it, and it made getting information from the outside world a lot harder than it would have been otherwise, with all the extra pressure He added.  "Y-yes, Master."  _

_"Until then," Voldemort said, walking away from the terrified, scrawny excuse of a wizard, "Work on finding us another place to stay."  The black robes that the wizard was wearing swished around him as he turned around, and suddenly there was nothing seen but black and gray darkness, and then there was nothing._

Ginny rolled over in her bed, not waking up after the vision.  It wasn't really a nightmare, for nothing was really frightening besides what the two wizards seemed to be talking about, so Ginny slept on as though nothing more happened.  With her covers pulled up tightly around her, she unconsciously snuggled deeper into her many pillows, sighed lightly, and went back into a dreamless sleep.  The light from the moon shone in through the window, illuminating only a small piece of the carpeting in between the bed and where Hermione slept on the floor, on a makeshift bed much like the one that Harry slept on in Ron's room.  The room was entirely silent, except for the sound of even breathing, and neither girl noticed when the shadow of a cat quickly crossed the light of the moon, making the light flash for a moment.   

The Burrow was in a rare moment of peace, albeit snores and occasional rustlings coming from various bedrooms.  Even the ghoul in the attic seemed to be sleeping, or at least he was keeping quiet.  The people sleeping in the packed house knew nothing of the importance of certain people in the household at the moment; surprises were to come soon, very soon, and knowledge would be found that would be vital in the survival of many.  Until then, though, the Burrow and its occupants were peaceful for the most part, and everyone slept on.

*

*

Harry woke up before Ron the next day after a good night's worth of sleep.  He smiled at that thought; he had had no nightmares to deal with, nor any pains in his scar.  He smiled up at the dream catcher that was in the window while he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and he briefly wondered if Ginny could say the same thing about her night.  The thought of Ginny puzzled him at the moment.  She was undoubtedly one of his closest friends, especially in the past year, and she worried him much more than the rest of his friends put together.  He wondered why, but only briefly when he remembered how…_Ginny _she was.  She may have been tiny compared to him, but she was a very strong 5'4" girl.  From the roots of her long, auburn hair down to her last toe, Ginny was every inch a stubborn Weasley.  Yet, Harry mused, she also had something about her that set her apart from all of the other Weasleys.  Of course, she was the only girl, but that wasn't what he meant.  There was just this aura around her that made him protective of her, and he wouldn't want it any other way.

He couldn't fully explain it, just like he couldn't fully explain why he had known that first day on the Hogwarts Express to turn Malfoy away.  It seemed as if Harry just had instinctively been drawn to Ginny.  It had happened soon after he had saved her in the Chamber of Secrets, and most people just thought that that explained it.  Harry, though, knew better.  Just thinking about her made him feel protective, and he actually liked the way that it made him feel, to care for someone else.  Merlin knew that he had never had anything to care for at the Dursley's, so he treasured his good friends.  Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all had special places in his heart.

Blinking a few times to try and clear his thoughts, Harry saw Ron still in bed, snoring every now and then.  He stood up, stretched his arms up over his head, and struggled to find his glasses.  He smiled when he realized a perk of his newfound use of magic, grabbed his wand and whispered, "Accio glasses."  His glasses immediately floated up towards him, and he put them in place on his nose.  After looking at Ron's clock, he saw that it was still early.  With the thought of Ginny still somewhat on his mind, he decided to see if she was still sleeping or not; he wanted to know if she had had another nightmare.  Those worried him more than he had admitted to her the other night.  He felt as though they should tell someone about them, but for all they knew, they were just mindless dreams that Ginny's mind was making up.  He quietly exited Ron's room and shut the door behind him before descending the flight of stairs that led to Ginny's room.  Seeing that her door was shut, he knocked three times, extremely quiet, as to not wake anyone up if they weren't already awake.  There was no answer, so he slowly turned the knob.

The door opened without sound, and Harry's head poked through the opening.  The first thing that he saw was Hermione sprawled out on the floor, half under her blankets.  He had to smile when he saw that her smoothing charm had worn off sometime in the night, and her hair was back to its frizzy self.  'Still the same, even when we haven't seen it for years,' he thought, and then his gaze moved to the bed.  Dark red waves of hair were sprawled out over her pillows, and a few strands lay over part of her face.  The covers were tightly wrapped around her, and he smiled at the content look on her face.  'Maybe she got a full night of sleep, finally.'  Harry smiled at the thought, and his eyes lingered on her for a few more moments.  Her face, which just two nights ago had appeared so thin, white, and gaunt, now appeared almost back to its normal color, and the bags under her eyes had gone down a few shades.  He smiled more at that thought, though the reason why confused him greatly.  All she had done differently was tell him about her nightmares; how could that so drastically change her appearance?  He supposed that stress could have had something to do with it, but he didn't think that it could change her _that _much.

He eased his head back through the door and shut it silently.  He didn't notice that the girl on the floor had one eye open, watching him, and was smiling widely at the sight of Harry Potter grinning at a sleeping Ginny.  Her smile grew even more when she looked at the time, and realized that Harry must have been checking on her at his own free will, not to wake them up for breakfast.  Hermione fought the urge to wake up the sleeping red head, and instead pulled her covers back over herself so she was under them again, and promptly fell back asleep. 

Harry descended the rest of the stairs until he reached the main floor.  He checked the kitchen to see that even Mrs. Weasley wasn't awake yet.  Knowing that he couldn't get back to sleep even if he tried, Harry went into the living room and sat down on the couch.  Leaning back on the comfortable cushions, Harry just sat there for awhile, thinking, until Mrs. Weasley came down the stairs to get breakfast going.  He helped her start tea and coffee, and had a conversation with her about going to Diagon Alley later that day while the rest of breakfast was cooking.

"Harry, dear, could you and –''Ron came down the stairs somewhat noisily, interrupting his mother, "Ron please go wake up the others?  We've got to get an early start if you all want to get to Diagon Alley today."  

Ron turned around while he was on the last step, and led the way for him and Harry.  The first stop was Bill and Charlie's room, they both woke up as soon as they heard the door creak open.  "Bloody door," was all that they heard the two men mumbling from the opposite sides of the room, but Ron and Harry left as soon as they saw them sit up.  Percy woke up just as easily, and Fred and George were already awake and on the way downstairs.  That left the girls, and both boys were more than happy to wake them up.  

The door opened silently again, and this time, both girls were asleep.  Ron motioned for Harry to wake Ginny up, his eyes never leaving the sleeping form of his girlfriend.  Harry grinned at the expression that Ron had on his sleepy face while he walked over to Ginny's bed.  He looked at her for a moment and took in her slumbering form, she looked so peaceful that he hated to wake her.  "Gin," he said softly, nudging her shoulder – or, what he hoped was her shoulder.  She didn't even flinch, so Harry tried it again harder.  "Wake up, Ginny."  He pushed a little harder on her shoulder, and she still didn't budge.  He tried again a few more times, to no avail.  She just wasn't waking up easily.  When a small yelp of surprise came from Hermione finally waking up, Harry finally sat down on Ginny's bed and bounced up and down a few times.  

Ginny's eyes popped open at the feeling that she was about to flop out of her bed, and the first thing she saw was a mischievous looking Harry.  She immediately sat up, looking perplexed as to why he was doing that.  She looked down to catch Ron and Hermione mid-kiss, and she scrunched up her nose and turned back to Harry.  He was holding back laughter from watching her; her hair was a mass of waves down her back, and the expression on her face when she had turned at just the right moment to catch Ron and Hermione was priceless.  "Breakfast," he choked out before finally getting over the need to laugh.  Ginny yawned delicately, and Harry watched her, afraid to turn around again and catch Ron and Hermione kissing again.  "Sleep okay?" he asked softly, and she looked at him.  Glancing down at the floor where Ron and Hermione were now talking, she said, "I'll tell you later?"  and Harry nodded, getting the hint as to what she meant.  He stood up to leave the room before dragging Ron out by his arm, and then he finally shut the door.  

As soon as she heard the door click shut, Hermione spun around and smiled a huge grin at a very sleepy Ginny.  "Did you see Harry come in the room before?"  she asked excitedly.  Like it or not, Hermione was going to make Ginny see that there was still a possibility of a relationship with Harry.  The past few years, Ginny had confessed to Hermione that she still had a little bit of feelings left for him but felt that she would never have the chance to be seen as more than a friend.

Ginny looked at her, puzzled.  "Of course I saw him come in, he bounced my bed and woke me up!"  As she said it, she climbed out of bed and began to try and straighten her hair out.  

Hermione scoffed loudly.  "No, _earlier_!  I woke up early this morning to see Harry poking his head inside the door.  He was looking at you, sleeping, and smiling!"  Her hand gestures showed how excited she was over this; her hand movements were out of control.

Ginny looked at her.  "Are you sure?"

"YES!  Yes, I'm sure.  He was looking at you, smiling, and then he shut the door!  And it was a real smile!"  

Ginny smiled at that.  "Really?"  She thought that it was sweet that he was checking up on her; he must have wanted to see if she was still sleeping or if she had had another nightmare and was awake.  

Hermione took what Ginny said to be disbelief, and she nodded furiously.  "Gin, you should have seen him.  It was adorable, the way that he was looking at you."

Ginny smiled at that; there was no denying that she was excited to hear the news.  No more words were said, though, as the girls quickly put on their robes over their pajamas and headed down to breakfast.  It wasn't until Ginny reached the last step that she remembered that she hadn't said her charm to cover up her pale face.

*

*

"Eat quickly, everyone, so we can get ready for Diagon Alley.  You four need to get your school things, and I need to get some of my shopping done," Mrs. Weasley urged them as soon as they came down the stairs. She set four plates down on the table that were heaped with food, and she watched as her youngest took a seat next to her son's girlfriend.  She frowned; Ginny looked to be a little paler than she usually did.  "Gin, you okay?  You look like you didn't sleep well last night."

Both Ginny and Harry's heads shot up at that, though no one noticed Harry's head.  "Yes, mum, I'm fine.  Just had a bit of trouble falling asleep, that's all."  Ginny said this as she buttered her toast, so she wouldn't have to look her mother in the eye.  The rest of her family took it in stride, but when she looked up she noticed a pair of green eyes watching her carefully.  She smiled shyly at Harry, shrugging.  'Later,' she mouthed, and Harry nodded.

They had barely finished breakfast before the dishes were swiped away by Mrs. Weasley, who handed them to a rather disgruntled looking Bill.  He wasn't used to doing the dishes, but understood that the four youngest in the house had to get ready to leave soon.  The four of them headed up the stairs, fighting over who got to take the first shower.  Hermione won that bet, as she just jumped into the bathroom, summoned her shower things, and shut the door before the other three had even stopped arguing.  

They all looked up as they heard the door slam and the bolt slide into place, and they all stood in shock for a moment until they realized what she had done.  Ginny looked at Harry out of the corner of her eye; he was still looking her over every few minutes to make sure that she was alright.  Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, she motioned to her room with her head at Harry, and he nodded.  Ron went walking back to his room to get his things ready, while Harry called to him that he'd be there in a moment.  Then, the two headed for Ginny's room.

Once the door was firmly shut and cast with a locking spell, Harry turned to Ginny while they both sat down on her bed.  "You look a lot better than you did the other night," he said honestly, hoping that it was the right thing to say.  With Ginny, sometimes you never could tell.

She nodded, biting her lip.  "I don't quite understand it, though…I was dreadfully pale before, with really dark bags under my eyes.  You saw it," she saw him nod at this, "and now I seem to be getting back to normal."

He shrugged.  "Maybe it was the stress of keeping it quiet?  I mean, all you did was tell me about the…er, nightmares, and you look better now."

"I don't know."

He looked her over.  "And did you have any…last night?"  He watched her carefully as she tried to remember what had happened the night before.  She really was cute early in the morning, he thought to himself, before he realized what he was thinking.  Shaking his head as if it would clear his thoughts of that sort, Harry raised his eyebrows at her in expectance.

"It wasn't really a nightmare, though.  It was just some…vision.  But they were saying awful things, Harry."  Ginny bit her lip yet again, troubled at the words that were starting to come back to her.  "It was Him again, Harry, and he was talking about some…some prophecy or something that involved you."  That was all she could remember, hearing his name mentioned along with a prophecy.

"Prophecy?"  Harry looked skeptical.  "Well bloody hell.  I didn't know I was part of a prophecy."  He looked truly surprised.

Before he had a chance to say anymore, they heard someone trying to open the door, and then  a knock.  Hermione's voice came through the door.  "Uh, Gin?  Let me in, it's kind of cold out here!"

Harry looked at Ginny, who was still biting her lip.  He still couldn't get over the fact that she looked so much healthier now that she had told him about her nightmares.  The difference in her appearance was amazing, and she didn't even have makeup on yet.  He pointed his wand towards the door and said, "Alohamora," and Hermione walked into the room.  She looked shocked at finding Harry sitting down on Ginny's bed.  She set her things down as he walked out the door, and she smiled to herself in the mirror at the thought of Harry and Ginny, willingly locked into Ginny's bedroom.  There had been a time not too long ago when Ginny would have been horrified at the thought; embarrassed out of her mind.  Now, it looked as if it had hardly fazed her, but Hermione still caught the movement of her eyes as she watched Harry leave her room and shut the door.  Something was definitely up between those two, Hermione thought as she tried to somewhat towel dry her hair, and she really wanted to know what it was.


	7. Chapter Six Gringott's

Disclaimer:  Same; if you feel the need to read what I have to say about this, go back and read what I put on the Prologue.  

What great reviews!  Thank you _so_ much, everyone who has reviewed!  Seeing that you guys like the story is a great feeling. J

For lifeisgood:  I appreciate the feedback, and here's what I have to say to your comments:  This is obviously fan fiction, so I'm making things up as I go along, just borrowing JK Rowling's characters.  I'm using the word 'Merlin' because I think it's cool, and honestly…count how many times you say "Thank God" a day or "Oh my God" or something like that.  I think it's a cute, different way to say that for witches and wizards, so I'm using it.  And I like it, so yeah.  As for the whole not being able to do magic over the holiday?  Well, there's so much magic going on at the Burrow because of everyone who is of age there, and the Ministry won't be able to tell who's doing the magic.  And for being able to do magic when you turn 17?  Well, a wizard/witch comes of age at 17, at least in my story, and I want them to be able to do magic.  Why the heck not? J

Chapter Six 

With the idea of going to Diagon Alley hurrying them up, Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny tried to get ready as quickly as possible.  It wasn't really that quick, since all four of them had to take a shower, but they still tried to get ready as fast as possible.  Ginny had managed to snag the shower after Hermione had gotten out of it, and was currently finishing up in the bathroom.  Aside from the argument that they had had over who got to go in first, Harry and Ron didn't really seem to mind that the girls had gotten to go before them.  After all, Ron had pointed out, it did take them lots longer to get ready than he and Harry.

While Ginny was in the shower, Hermione took the time to review what she had seen when she had entered Ginny's bedroom after her own shower.  She was applying makeup the old Muggle way this time; she liked doing it herself from time to time.  'So, those two have been getting kind of close lately, especially after last year…I caught Harry looking in here when he thought that neither of us was awake…and then they were locked in here while I was taking a shower?!  And it wasn't just the lock on the door, Harry had to have used a locking spell because he used 'Alohamora'.  And he had been sitting on her _bed_!  That's big for the two of them, Harry usually shies away from girls, let alone their bedrooms.'

Suddenly, she almost dropped her tube of mascara as a different thought entered her head.  'Could Harry possibly be falling for Ginny?' A smile played across her lips at just the thought of it.  She already knew that Ginny still had more feelings than friendship towards Harry – she had said so many times, and she was turning crimson more and more lately when Hermione would catch her looking at Harry.  'Hmmmm,' Hermione thought as Ginny came back into her bedroom in her robe, with a towel around her head, 'This will definitely be an interesting year!'

*

*

"Floo powder…where on earth did I put the rest of the floo powder?"  Mrs. Weasley was searching the entire living room for the new bag of floo powder that she had purchased the last time that she was in Hogsmeade.  Finally realizing that her search was futile, she picked up her wand and said tiredly, "Accio new floo powder."  The new bag arrived in her hand just as the four teenagers walked down the stairs.  

  
"Hurry, we don't want to get caught by the crowds, now.  Ron, you first."  Ron did as he was told by his mother, and took a pinch of the powder.  He threw it into the fireplace and yelled, "Leaky Cauldron!"  When he was gone, Ginny went, then Hermione, followed by Harry.  Mrs. Weasley watched to make sure that they were all safely out of the fireplace before apparating to the Leaky Cauldron to meet them with a small 'pop'.

The Leaky Cauldron was just as they had all remembered it; slightly dark and dingy, but with a cheerful atmosphere.  They passed through it quickly, though, so they could meet Mrs. Weasley in Diagon Alley.  Tom the bartender smiled at them as they walked by into the back room, and Hermione opened up the wall with her wand.  Diagon Alley loomed before them, as crowded as ever with wizards and witches bustling about, doing their daily shopping.  Mrs. Weasley was waiting for them as soon as they walked out of the doorway from the Leaky Cauldron, and she immediately began talking.

"Okay, I have to go get a few things for the house, so you all are free to go wherever…well, NOT down Knockturn Alley.  Just get all your things for school, and I'll meet you at the ice cream shop.  Okay?"  She said this all quickly.  The four of them nodded at her, and she set off on her business, towards a shop that sold floo powder and things for the kitchen.  

"Gringotts?"  Harry asked after they watched them leave, and the other three nodded.  So they headed off towards the enormous building, where they saw a few people from school. Lee Jordan, the twins' old friend, waved when he saw them, but stayed with the group of friends that he was with.  The Patil twins smiled and waved at the bunch, but continued walking out of the bank, much to Harry's relief.  He and Padma had had an extremely short relationship at the beginning of the previous year, and he was still a bit uncomfortable around her.  It wasn't that he didn't like being her friend; it was just that the relationship had been rocky and had ended on a bad note.

The goblins took them to Hermione's vault first.  She quickly gathered some of the coins of different sizes and colors, and Harry couldn't help but notice that she had more money in her vault than he had ever remembered seeing in there.  She smiled when she saw all of their curious looks, and she said, "It's part of my college fund…my parents said that they understood if I wanted to go right to work in the wizard world, and transferred half to my Gringott's fund."  Harry was surprised that her parents had been so understanding; he imagined that they had wanted her to be a dentist, like they both were.  They visited the Weasley's vault after that, and both Ron and Ginny quickly stepped inside to grab a handful of coins each.  They weren't as embarrassed as they used to be about their parent's social status, but sometimes it hurt their pride to see other people who didn't deserve money have loads of it in their vaults.  People like Crabbe and Goyle, for example.

Harry's vault was visited last, and as always, he felt bad when he saw Ron and Ginny's faces when they looked inside it.  He still had loads of money inside of his, despite the fact that he had been grabbing money sporadically throughout his time at school.  He honestly couldn't believe how much money was in the vault; his parents must have been very wealthy.  Judging by the looks of it, he could probably get by for at least fifty years just off of the vault.  He hastily grabbed a few handfuls of coins to last him through the year, and began to back out of the vault.  It was while he was doing this that he realized that he really had never had a chance to look around the vault before; he'd never had the time.  He slowed down then, and slowly looked around him.  Piles of coins were stacked all around the little room, but there were some other things inside.  There was a medium sized trunk in one of the back corners; he made a mental note to come back soon and look inside of it.  He wasn't sure if he wanted anyone to be around while he opened it; he had no idea of what was going to be found inside.  While he was backing out again towards the door, he spied a small chest just to the left of the doorway.  He added that to his mental note of what to look for, and finally stepped out of the vault.  

"Ready to go?" Ginny asked, and he nodded.  Ginny had noticed the way that he had hesitated to come out of the vault, and she wanted to ask him about it.  She just didn't know if he wanted to talk about it in front of Ron and Hermione; sometimes he was very private about his parents.  Harry nodded that he was ready, and the foursome headed outside again.  Ron and Hermione immediately spoke of how they wanted to go off and check out certain shops before they got their school things, and Ginny caught the teasing glance that Hermione was throwing her.  So it was decided that the foursome would split up into two couples and meet up later, when Mrs. Weasley would be coming back.  Ron and Hermione joined hands and walked off somewhere quickly before both neither Harry nor Ginny could protest, and they disappeared shortly.

Ginny turned to Harry.  "I saw you kind of hesitate coming out of your vault…" her voice trailed away.  She wasn't sure if she should have said anything about it, but she was really curious.  His face was pensive though, and it seemed like he didn't mind her question.

"Yeah, I saw some things in the back of it that I've never really looked at before and would like to look at," he answered truthfully.    

Ginny's chocolate brown eyes looked at him carefully before she asked her next question.  "Would you like to go back and look?"  She asked it timidly, as if she didn't really care either way if he went or not, but she was also very curious about what was in the vault. She would have to ask him later to tell her what he found.

Harry thought for a moment before answering her, "Yes, actually I would like to go back."  He looked at her, she was biting her lip.  

She nodded, and answered with an "Okay…do you want me to meet you here in about an hour?"  

He was surprised at this, and he smiled at her for a second. "No," he said, making her head jerk up in surprise to look him in the eye, "I'd like you to come in with me…if you want to, that is."  Harry was honestly surprised at the words that came out of his mouth.  He didn't know exactly why he wanted Ginny to come in with him, but he did.  He couldn't explain it, but he just wanted her there with him while he went through these things of his parents.

A small smile began to play across Ginny's lips, and she blushed lightly.  She and Harry had shared a lot over the past year, but she still couldn't believe that he wanted her to come in the vault with him.  She looked up into his eyes again before answering, "Okay.  Let's go."  Harry led them back to Gringott's.

If the goblins recognized the two of them, they didn't show it, and they were brought back to the familiar vault.  The goblin opened the door for them, and Harry walked in first, before Ginny.  Ginny couldn't hide the gasp at how much money was inside; what could be seen from the outside was minimal in comparison to what was actually in it.  She had never seen so much money in her life.  Harry looked back at her when he heard her gasp, and he smiled sadly.  "Make you wonder what my parents did, huh?"

Ginny nodded silently, and followed Harry to the back where the trunk was.  The lock on it had the key sticking out of it; it obviously didn't need to be locked when it was inside of Gringott's.  Harry blew the dust off of the nameplate, and the name _James Potter_ shone back up at them.  Taking a deep breath, Harry turned the key in the lock, and the lock popped open.  At first they couldn't see what was inside, but then, Harry opened the top further.  The trunk was full to capacity, or so it looked, and Ginny just watched Harry's face as he came face to face with things from his father for the first time that he could remember, besides the invisibility cloak.

Lying on the top of the pile was a familiar black cloak; the black Hogwarts cloak with the Gryffindor crest.  Harry gently lifted it out, and it unfolded to show that Harry truly did take after his father – the cloak was long, obviously made for someone reaching 6 feet or over.  There was still the 'Head Boy' pin pinned to the chest, and Harry couldn't believe that he was actually seeing it up close.  He ran his fingers over the pin before looking up at Ginny.  She grinned at him, and he smiled back.  He handed her the cloak, and she looked it over and began folding it back up when Harry pulled another cloak out of the trunk.  This one was sizably smaller, and Ginny guessed that it was either for a very young James or was one of Lily's.  Her suspicions proved to be correct, for when Harry unfolded it, the Gryffindor crest showed again, along with a 'Head Girl' badge pinned to the front.  Tears came unwillingly to Harry's eyes; this truly was the first thing of his mother's that he remembered having the chance to touch.  

Ginny took this cloak from him, too, and folded it as Harry looked inside the trunk to see what else was there.  He pulled out some thin books bound in leather, and that had no titles.  He flipped one of them open, and a small sound came from his throat.  _Journal of James Potter_, the first page read, and underneath it, in the same script, but smaller was, _Including Details of the Potter Legacy_.  He flipped through the pages; all of them were filled top to bottom with the same neat, masculine script.  He quickly flipped open the other book; it, too, was a journal, but it wasn't finished.  James must not have had the chance to finish it, and Harry shut it with a sigh.  So many emotions were running through him that he almost couldn't speak, but he softly said, "I'm taking these with me, to read later on."  Ginny nodded, she would have done the same thing.  

The rest of the trunk was filled with various things from James and Lily's last years of school and things that they must have accumulated during the beginning of their marriage. There was a set of women's dress robes inside, a light lilac and silver robe set.  Ginny couldn't take her eyes off of it; they were obviously Lily's, and she would have looked gorgeous in them.  She couldn't help but finger the satiny fabric and wonder how wonderful the nights were when Lily had worn them.  There were some old books from their classes – Harry thought that Hermione would love to read the old version of _Hogwarts, A History_, but he left it in the trunk for the time being.  There were his father's old Gryffindor quidditch robes, as well as a very small broomstick that Harry assumed must have been either his or his father's first one.   There was also a picture album that Harry wanted to look at for hours.  Unlike Hagrid's gift from his first year, this book was filled with both James' and Lily's pictures starting at birth, and into their marriage and becoming parents.  He set that aside with the journals to take with him, and Ginny agreed with him that it would be easy to spend lots of time in front of, looking at all of the Marauders and their friends.

Harry shut the trunk, and they made their way to the front of the vault to where the small chest was sitting on the floor.  There was no lock on this one, and Harry set down the journals and photo album before picking it up.  He flipped it open with one hand, and both of them gasped at what was inside.

Lying on simple blue velvet was five rings: two sets and an extra one.  One was obviously an engagement ring; it was a small, delicate gold band with a very large diamond in the center.  On either side of the diamond, just where the band met the actual stone, were two small emeralds.  The ring was the most beautiful one that Ginny had ever seen; it was amazing.  Alongside this ring were two other wedding bands that made up the set.  There was a thicker, heavier gold one that was obviously a man's ring, and a smaller, more delicate version of it that fit together with the engagement ring.  The other two rings that were inside of the small chest were shiny silver, one was masculine and the other, feminine.  There was a heart engraved on the inside of each ring, and Harry fingered the smaller one gently.  "Promise rings," he murmured, not able to take his eyes off of them.

Ginny's eyes almost filled with tears at the thought; someone had taken off James and Lily's rings after they had died, and had them set aside, most likely for Harry to be able to use.  She looked closer at the top of the chest.  In small, gold letters against the blue velvet was written, _Lily Elizabeth & James Harold Potter.  _Ginny whispered, "They're beautiful," and Harry nodded, unable to speak.  They stood; staring at the rings for a few more moments before he gently shut the lid of the box and set it down where it had been.  By then, both of their eyes were teary.  They looked at each other for a moment before Ginny threw her arms around him in a hug.  "Oh, Harry," she said, trying not to cry, "I can't believe you found those!"  

"I know," his voice cracked when he spoke, and he hugged her tighter to him, "I don't know what to do with them…" He felt as if he wanted to keep them close to him at all times, to remind him of the love that his parents had for each other, and of him, but at the same time, he wanted to keep them as safe as possible, and that would mean keeping them in Gringott's.  

She pulled away from him and tried to smile as best as she could.  "I would keep them here, until you can use them," she said quietly, finding it difficult to think of a very grown up Harry giving the love of his life the beautiful rings.  She bent down to pick up the books that Harry had placed on the floor, and handed them to him.  

He took the books from her and slowly nodded, glancing again at the small chest that held the small treasures.  He nodded slowly, as if seriously thinking about her answer.  "Yes, I guess that's what I'll do."  He straightened himself out then, trying to regain his composure before they left his vault.  Ginny watched him try and do so; she couldn't remember the last time she had seen him like this.  Of course, she had seen him cry after the death of Cedric way back after the Tri-Wizard Tournament, but those were a completely different kind of tears than these.  She had a feeling that not too many people saw this side of Harry Potter, and she couldn't help but feel more attached to him now, for some reason, after coming to look at these things with him.  

Harry took a deep breath before he finally offered Ginny his arm.  "To Madame Malken's?"  

She nodded.  "To Madame Malken's."  With that said, they got into the small cart, and the goblin took them away from the vault which now held many more things that Harry would hold close to his heart.

*

*

After making it through Madame Malken's Robes for All Occasions, as well as getting potions supplies and other school supplies, the only things that they had to buy were their schoolbooks.  Well, Harry had to buy all of his schoolbooks and Ginny was using the old ones that Ron had used the year before.  The only book that she needed was the one for Arithmancy since Ron hadn't taken that course.  They walked into the bookstore to find Ron and Hermione looking at an extremely large wall of books, or rather, Hermione was looking at the books and Ron was just standing beside her.  Harry gave a small smile at that; he supposed that this was Hermione's idea of Heaven.

They walked up and down the aisles of books, looking at the different titles while they picked up Harry's new books.  Their favorite title so far was _The Visible Invisible Book_, which gave both of them a much needed laugh.  While they were looking for Harry's last book, the one for Advanced Transfiguration, a book fell in front of Ginny.  She bent down quickly and placed it back on the shelf without looking at the title.  Neither she nor Harry thought anything of it until the same book seemingly floated above their heads, to fall at Ginny's feet again.  She shot a curious look at Harry, who looked just as confused as she did, and read the title.  _Prophecies Within Legacies:  The Predictions._  

"Ooookay," Ginny said.  She tried to put the book back onto the shelf, but it wouldn't move from her hand.  Harry frowned and tried to help her, but all it did was transfer from her hand onto his.  They were just starting to panic when the voice of the owner of the store came from behind them.  

"Ah, I see that that book has once again found an owner," he said, and both Harry and Ginny looked at him questioningly.  

"But I don't want to buy the book," Ginny said, somewhat exasperated.

The owner smiled.  "You see, that book chooses who it wants to read it.  It has chosen you, and it is yours.  Free of charge."  

The shocked look on their faces made the owner fight back a laugh.  'They really didn't know what that book contained,' he thought. Watching them as they purchased their other books and went outside to meet with two other teenagers, he saw the girl look in her bag curiously.  'No,' he thought, 'They really don't know what they will learn.'


	8. Chapter Seven Exciting Day

Chapter Seven 

"So, where did you two end up going when we split up?"  Ron's question was slightly muffled, due to the fact that he had just spooned a huge bite of ice cream sundae into his mouth.  The four had ended up back at the ice cream parlor well before Mrs. Weasley was ready, so they had taken up one of the booths by the window and ordered their favorite treats.

Ginny looked up at Harry quickly because she didn't know if he wanted the other two to know where they had gone.  It had been an emotional visit back at the vault, and Ginny knew that Harry was a pretty private person when it came to emotional matters.  'Probably because he wasn't _allowed_' to show any emotion at the Dursley's," she thought, and caught Harry's eye.

"We, uh, actually went back to Gringott's first." Harry said it matter-of-factly, but that didn't stop looks of confusion from appearing on both Ron's and Hermione's faces.  "I wanted to look at some things really quickly," he explained more when he saw that they were both about to ask questions as soon as they swallowed their ice cream.

Hermione looked very interested.  "Did you find anything interesting?  Anything that you didn't know was in there?"  Her brown eyes appeared larger than normal, ready to take in any information that she could about the mysterious lives of Harry's parents.  Sure, they all knew that Lily and James were Head Boy and Girl their seventh year, that James played Quidditch for Gryffindor, and that James was part of the Marauders and had Sirius Black as a best friend.  But beyond that, they really didn't know much about them, besides their death.  It was frightening, really, to think about how little Harry actually knew about his own parents.

Harry spooned the last drop of the chocolate syrup from the bottom of his bowl and placed it in his mouth before reaching for his bag.  He pulled out the photo album, but left the other two books inside of his bag and zipped it up. He held it up, and the words _Photo Album_ glinted in gold on the aged cover.  "Found this," he offered, and a glint actually came into his eye as he opened up the first page.  

"Ooooh," Hermione said, looking at it as he held it up.  It was actually more of a scrapbook of sorts, with more than pictures inside of it.  The page he had opened it to had both James' and Lily's birth announcements, and it was already clear that it had taken someone lots of time to put the book together, the Muggle way.  She could see that the pages were even covered in clear protective sheets.

Ron squinted harder at the Muggle picture of a newborn Lily.  "Oi, your baby pictures look just like his mum's, Gin.  Well, beside the fact that you're moving in yours."  Ginny squinted at the picture, too, and easily saw the resemblance between Lily and herself.  Having kept quiet until then, she let out a small noise of surprise as she saw that Lily even had the same baby blanket that she had had as a newborn.

"It's the red hair," she finally said, talking about why she and Lily seemed to look alike.  "We just can't help it."  She couldn't take her eyes off of the picture, though.  If Lily hadn't had sparkling green eyes even at birth, then she and Ginny could have passed as twins at that age.  Her eyes glanced down at the picture of Harry's father, and she had to giggle.  James' hair was wild even as a newborn; the short black hair was sticking up all around his head as his arms and legs flailed about in the moving wizard's photograph.  

Harry set the book down in the center of the table, and all of them scooted closer together in the circular booth so that they could get better views of the pages. Hermione reached out and gently turned the page to see baby pictures of both Lily and James.  They were all entranced by the book, almost as much as Harry was, because these were the first pictures besides those in Harry's book from Hagrid that they had all seen of the witch and wizard.  Harry's eyes took in as much detail as he could, but he knew that he would eventually look over the pages until he had them memorized for years.  

The four of them 'oohed' and 'ahed' over all of the pictures and details that the creator had put in; there was fiery red hair from Lily's first hair cut, James's first baby tooth that fell out, and even bits of fabric from some of the clothes that they wore in the pictures.  Lily's acceptance letter from Hogwarts was inside, as well as James', and it was around those pages that Lily, too, began to move in the pictures.  They all had a good laugh over the picture that showed James showing off on his broom before deftly falling off as he tried to stop, and the picture shook as the person who took it must have begun laughing.  They concluded that Gryffindor Tower hadn't changed much at all from the time of Harry's parents, for even the same couches and tables that were in the pictures were still there.  

Ginny pointed out a particularly young Professor McGonagall in one of the House Quidditch Team pictures, and a young, greasy haired boy in Slytherin robes that was no doubt Severus Snape in the corner of one of the pictures.  Strangely enough, it seemed as though he was looking at Lily in the picture, but all of them still had a good laugh over it.  There were pictures of the two of them in their respective dorms with their roommates throughout the years, and other pictures of them whose names they didn't know.  Some names were printed alongside the pictures with other memorabilia like ticket stubs, but no one really recognized many names besides the other Marauders.  Finally, the two began to seem like a couple in pictures.  There were pictures of them, both with their Prefects badges on their cloaks, in front of the lake, in front of Hagrid's cabin, and even one with Hagrid and a small, black puppy that could only have been a baby Fang.  

Ginny's breath caught in her throat as she turned another page and saw letters to James and Lily telling them that they were Head Boy and Head Girl, and across from it was a large picture.  James and Lily stood with their Head Boy and Girl badges on, posing close together for the camera with huge smiles on their faces.  Harry's eyes almost misted over at the sight of the cloaks that he had just seen and touched, and he caught Ginny's eyes and smiled slightly before looking back at the book.  She gasped again when the next page was turned, and she saw what must have been one of their last balls at Hogwarts.  Lily was dressed in the lilac and silver dress robes that had been in the trunk in the Potter's vault.  She was beautiful in them, just as Ginny had envisioned.  Her long red hair was pulled up into a complicated style, and she looked radiant.  James himself had on very fancy dress robes, and it seemed that he had managed to calm his hair down for at least one night of his life.  Ginny couldn't help but remarking softly to Hermione, "Those robes were made for her!" and Hermione couldn't help but nod in agreement.  Ron and Harry added their agreements also, being able to hear Ginny from across the table.  

There were pictures of the Marauders, and Ginny noticed that Harry glared maliciously towards one of Peter and his parents, and couldn't blame him for doing so.  Ron pointed out how young Sirius looked in the photos, and then silence took over the table as Harry flipped another page and saw the invitations to his parent's wedding shower, then wedding across from a page of pictures from the two.  Several were copies of ones from Hagrid's book, but Harry still couldn't believe that it was his parents that he was watching in the photographs.  Yet another page was flipped, and there stood a very pregnant Lily Potter, still young and vibrant.  James stood behind her, visibly running his hands over her large tummy. On the opposite page was Harry's own birth announcement, complete with what had to have been his first picture.  He looked remarkably like his father in his own birth announcement, with the wild black hair and fists flailing all over the place, but his green eyes were wide.  Harry couldn't help but run his fingers over it in disbelief.  Below it was a copy of his birth certificate.  

Not being able to move, Harry just stared at the book until Ginny slowly reached out and turned the page again.  There were pictures from his Christening, with Sirius standing over him as his Godfather.  Photos were in the book labeled, _Harry's first steps, Harry's first broomstick, _and _Harry's first birthday._  There was one last picture after his birthday, and it had both of his parents holding him up in front of them, their arms intertwined.  Their heads were tilted together, and they were looking lovingly at Harry.  

Hermoine reached out again and shut the book, and all of them were still in silence.  Ginny looked at Harry's faraway look on his face; it seemed as though he didn't know if he should be upset or happy about the discovery of all that he had just seen.  "Wow," Ron said, and all of them had to agree – there wasn't much else that could be said about the book.

Luckily for them, Mrs. Weasley showed up right at that moment, ready to go.  "Sorry I took so long, kids, it's just that I ran into that nice Mrs. Watson, and we had a long chat."  She didn't notice as Harry quickly put the book carefully into his backpack, and then the four stood and walked out of the ice cream shop, following Mrs. Weasley in pairs.  Ron and Hermione walked out first, holding hands and quietly discussing something.  Ginny walked out next to Harry, who was still being unusually quiet, even for him.  "Harry, are you alright after seeing those?"  she asked.

"Yes, I'm just in shock, I guess," Harry replied, before looking at her with a smile on her face.  "I just can't believe that I saw everything, you know?  And seeing them with their rings on…"  He trailed off, and Ginny hadn't realized until he just told her that they had been, in fact, wearing their promise rings in many of the pictures taken later at Hogwarts, and that Lily had had on the engagement ring in the picture of their last ball.  Ginny didn't know what to say to that, so she just nodded, and the two of them followed the others in a companionable silence as they walked back towards the Leaky Cauldron, lugging along all of their purchases.

*

*

Just as the four of them had reached the door to the Leaky Cauldron, a loud, familiar yell rang out from across the street.  "GINNY!"

Ginny immediately turned, a smile evident on her face as she yelled back.  "Kota!"  Seconds later, a taller, blond haired witch was running across the street and had enveloped Ginny in a hug.  Dakota Ross was Ginny's best girl friend at Hogwarts, and the two hadn't seen each other for months.  The daughter of two Muggles, Kota didn't even have an owl so they could write back and forth when Errol was too tired to travel.  

Kota quickly smiled up at the family, greeting everyone.  "Hi, Ron," she said sweetly, after a general greeting, and Ginny hid a smile behind her hand.  Although it was no secret that he and Hermione were seriously dating, Kota had apparently not lost her crush on him, though Ginny suspected that she played it up a bit because she enjoyed watching his ears turn pink.  Indeed, Ron's ears began to tinge, and he got out a strangled, "Hi," while Hermione also hid a smile into her hand.  It wasn't that Ron didn't like Kota, he did; just as a friend.  It made him uncomfortable, though, to try and tell her that, so he always turned pink with embarrassment whenever she spoke to him.  Hermione, like Ginny, knew that nothing would ever come of it, and found it hilarious.  Even Harry cracked a smile at the exchange, and soon Mrs. Weasley broke in with, "Well, let's go in for a butterbeer, then.  Dakota, are your parents here?"

Kota yelled for her parents to cross the street, and the couple crossed over to them as they walked into the Leaky Cauldron.  Tom sat them at a table in the back where their bags would fit into the extra chairs, and everyone began chattering away; the silence from the ice cream shop had been broken.  Harry involved himself in an avid discussion of the Gryffindor House Quidditch Team with Ron and Hermione while Mrs. Weasley talked to Kota's parents, leaving Ginny and Kota to catch up.

Ginny looked at her close friend.  She had light blond hair and tan skin which made her bright blue eyes stand out against her face.  She was taller than Ginny, though not much taller than average, and she was a more outgoing girl that many people liked at Hogwarts.  She had a great personality, and had gotten to know Ginny when she had transferred to the school in the beginning of their third year.  Being sorted into Gryffindor at the beginning of the year and thus put into Ginny's dorm, Ginny was the only girl who had taken the time to get to know her as a person, and not just judged her by her appearance.  Despite the fact that she had the typical 'bimbo' blond hair and sky blue eyes, Kota was one of the top people in their class.

The two talked about their summers so far, and Ginny honestly answered most of her questions.  Kota seemed especially keen on hearing what was going on between Harry and Ginny, "A future relationship," she had called it back in their fourth year.  Since then, she had always enjoyed hearing the new developments, and Ginny just told her of how much time she and Harry were spending together at the Burrow and such.  Before they truly had time to catch up on all of their gossip, the butterbeers were gone, and Mrs. Weasley stood up.  

"Well, I hate to say it, but it's time to go."  She checked her watch and saw that it was approaching 'Dinner Time', so she asked Tom to use the fireplace.  He'd answered with his usual, "Of course!" and off they were, back to the Burrow.  Ginny hugged her friend one more time, promised to owl soon with 'more news' of her and Harry, and followed everyone else into the glowing fireplace before she landed with a 'thud' in her own.

*

*

Ron and Hermione had quickly unloaded their purchases from the day and had decided to go for a quick walk before dinner, leaving everyone else at home.  Ginny herself had placed everything neatly into her own Hogwarts trunk, ready to leave the next week for school.  As she was walking down the stairs, she heard a 'clunk' coming from the direction of Ron's room, so she headed up.  She saw Harry place the book that had fallen on her at the book shop fall, once again it seemed, from the top of Harry's trunk to the floor right in front of him.  It seemed as if it was almost begging to be read.  'That's silly,' Ginny admonished herself, and made her presence known to Harry.

"Get everything put away?" she asked lightly, leaning against the doorway.  

Harry nodded, "Everything but this bloody book.  It won't stay where I put it!"  He looked frustrated.

Ginny crossed the room and picked up the book, flipping it open at last.  It had blank pages.  "That's strange," she said, showing Harry the white parchment of the book.  "It seems like it wants us to read it, and then it's empty."

  
Harry looked as baffled as she did.  "Well, it's been nothing but a nuisance since it showed up.  I'm not even going to bother trying to figure out what it means."

Ginny couldn't help but agree with him, and she set the book back down on the top of his trunk for school.  "Can I ask you a question, Harry?"  

He looked up from folding one of the new robes that he had just bought.  "Sure."

She sat down on the edge of Ron's bed, biting her lip.  "Why didn't you tell Ron and Hermione about the other things that we found?"

She didn't need to mention the unspoken, 'in the vault' because Harry knew what she meant.  He shrugged.  "I didn't really feel like explaining the rings, and I'd like to read my dad's journals before everyone else knows about them."

Nodding, Ginny stopped biting her lip.  She hated the habit, but never could stop doing it.  "I understand…I was just curious, that's all."

Harry nodded, but before he had a chance to say anything, a tapping at the window interrupted.  He looked up to find Hedwig and another owl flapping their wings, impatient to get inside.  Hedwig immediately flew to Harry's shoulder and held out her leg obediently for Harry to untie the package and letter, and then she 'coo'ed at him.  He ruffled the top of her head, told her 'thanks' for the delivery, and she flew into her new cage that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had gotten him for his birthday.  The other owl, looking to be a Hogwarts owl, dropped a letter on his makeshift bed on the floor and flew back out the window, obviously not waiting for a reply.

Harry read the letter that Hedwig had given him, first.  "It's from Sirius!" He couldn't help but smile at the letter from his godfather.  He hadn't heard much from him lately, and any news now had to be good news.  It turned out that Sirius didn't write much, just to wish him a happy belated birthday and to tell him that he was back in England with Buckbeak.  He explained that the gift that was enclosed had belonged to his father, and that he would understand as soon as he saw it.  Harry gave Ginny the letter to read as he opened the package and pulled out a golden watch on a string.  _Don't worry_, an attached note said, _it's not a Time Turner!_  Harry smiled at that, and held the watch closer to his face for inspection as Ginny watched on.  He saw his dad's initials engraved on the back of it, and smiled.  Another object that had belonged to one of his parents.  He felt especially blessed that he got to see so much in one day.

He was so mesmerized by the clock that Ginny smiled and poked him in the side.  "The other letter," she reminded him, and he nodded and grabbed the letter from the blankets he slept on. 

She watched as he opened the seal that showed it was from Hogwarts, and then his face lit up in amazement.  "I don't believe it!  Gin, I made Head Boy!"  He looked up at her with a huge smile, and she immediately squealed at the news.  He stood up and hugged her, picking her up and spinning her around.  

Ginny's thoughts not only registered that he had made Head Boy, but also how close he was hugging her.  Trying not to think along those lines, she smiled again.  "Harry, congratulations!"

Before either of them could say another thing, they heard the door open downstairs and a loud squeal that they recognized was Hermione.  "I made Head Girl!"  she shouted, and both Harry and Ginny took off down the stairs, Ginny still with Harry's letter in her hand.  When they got down to the landing, they saw Hermione literally jumping up and down before hugging Ron, and Mrs. Weasley beamed in the corner.  Ginny ran to hug Hermione in another 'congratulations,' and it was then that Ron asked what she had in her hand.  She pulled away from Hermione and looked at Harry, who nodded at her with a huge smile on his face.  

"Oh, it's just the letter that told Harry that he made Head Boy," she tried to say nonchalantly, but it didn't work.  She was exuberant; two of her best friends had been named the top students in Hogwarts.

Mrs. Weasley gasped in surprise, and then she rushed to pull both Hermione and Harry into her arms in a double hug.  "I'm so proud of you both!"  A few motherly tears ran down her cheeks, and she hugged both of them tight against her chest.  "To think, two right under my own roof, almost like my own!"

The rest of the family decided to apparate into the living room right then with a loud series of 'pops'.  Apparently, they had all gone somewhere together, and they all looked confused at the events happening in front of them.  

"Oh, Arthur, Harry and Hermione made Head Boy and Girl!"  Mrs. Weasley exclaimed to her confused husband, and a loud series of cheers rang out from the rest of the Weasley family.

Dinner that night was especially wonderful.  Mrs. Weasley had suddenly conjured up some fancy plates and glasses, and they all had a wonderful time celebrating Harry's and Hermione's accomplishments.  It was a jovial time at the Burrow that night, and all of them eventually fell asleep smiling.


	9. Chapter Eight Hogwarts Express

Hey guys!  Sorry it's been so long since I've updated…I'm leaving to go back to school soon, so I've been getting everything together for that.  It'll be slow coming for about the next three weeks or so, but after that it should speed back up again to a chapter every other day or two.  Hope you still enjoy!

Disclaimer:  Yeah, I'm not JK Rowling, nor would I be here writing this if I were.  I'd get cracking on Book 5, instead.

**Chapter Eight**

Ginny awoke a week later to the sun shining in her eyes from the space in between her curtains.  Fighting to stay asleep, she quickly rolled over, but to no avail.  She was already awake.  Sitting up in bed and squinting through the sunlight, she could just make out the form of Hermione on the floor, the blankets bunched up around her neck and strings of brown hair tousled all around her head.   A yawn escaped her lips, and she hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand while she climbed out of bed and over to the mirror.  Her appearance had changed drastically over the past week or two; her skin which had been so ashen colored, seemed almost back to normal, and her eyes had regained their brightness.  It was odd, really, because she still had some nightmares, but none anywhere near the intensity of which she had had before.  Some nights, she couldn't even remember what she had envisioned, and she loved telling Harry that she really was, honestly fine.  

Harry.  Ginny blinked, thinking about him.  He had made it a point, at sometime during every single day, to talk to her and ask about her nightmares.  It was kind of sweet, really, she reckoned, because he really didn't have to do that.  She hadn't had anything new even when she did have a nightmare, and he still asked her every day.  She smiled at the thought of him.

Grabbing her things for the shower, Ginny realized that it was the day that they were to go to Hogwarts.  A smile immediately found its way to her face.  Hogwarts always seemed like a second kind of home to her; one where she and all of her brothers and friends could have fun.  The Burrow would always be better, of course, but nowhere else could she literally stay up every night of the week with various friends.  'Well,' the voice reasoned, 'With my brothers, Kota, and Harry.'  She made her way down the hallway to the bathroom, realizing that it would be busy there today because the four of them had to get to King's Cross Station.  

The door to the bathroom was shut, but just as she was about to groan in frustration, the knob turned and out walked Harry – clothed in nothing but a white towel.  Ginny stopped where she was on the ledge, her eyes following him as he gripped the towel at his waist and made his way to the stairs.  He didn't have his glasses on; water was still dripping down from his hair.  Ginny let out a breath that she didn't even realize that she was holding when he turned to go up the steps and she got a glimpse of his backside, which the towel was drawn tightly over.  Her face reddened at the thoughts that were running through her mind, but she couldn't draw her eyes away from her friend.  Muscles were apparent on his back, from Quidditch, she reasoned lightly in her head, and his arms were rather muscular too, now that she looked at them.  He reached the top of the steps and turned again onto the landing below the one that she was on, and she got an even better view of the front of him.  She watched as a drop of water, as if in slow motion, fell from one of his wet spikes at the top of his head down to his neck, and she was fascinated as it traveled its way down his muscular chest before working its way over his well-defined abdomen, and then finally was absorbed into the towel.  Harry disappeared into Ron's room with a click as the door shut, but Ginny still stood there, unable to move.  _That_ had been an unexpected pleasantry.  

A laugh suddenly came from behind her, and Ginny twirled around to find Hermione leaning against her doorway, giggling.  "Gotta take a cold shower this morning then, eh, Gin?" she asked, before cracking up again.  Ginny's face tinged even darker before she caught Hermione's eye and a glint escaped her own eyes.

"Well," she said, almost giggling herself, "I'll miss seeing  _that_ in the morning at Hogwarts!"  Hermione laughed even harder, and she watched as Ginny descended the stairs and entered the bathroom herself.  

Shaking her head at her younger friend, Hermione smiled.  'Now if that isn't what I call a couple in the making, I don't know what is!'  

*

*

Before any of them had even fully woken up, they had been whisked away into a Ministry of Magic car and over to King's Cross Station.  Noticing that they were running right on time, for once, they entered the barrier one at a time before meeting again on Platform 9 and ¾.  There, Mrs. Weasley had said her tearful good-bye, and they boarded the train.  

"Gin!"  Kota came out of the barrier and had immediately spotted her friend's red head going up the steps to get on the train.  Blond hair flying behind her, Kota ran directly to the steps and next to Ginny.  Breathless, she spoke.  "Mum and Dad thought that I'd be late, so they just sent me on the barrier.  I'm glad I spotted you."

The five of them walked slowly up and down the train car, trying to find an empty one.  Neville Longbottom looked out the doorway of one of the cars suddenly, and spotted them.  "Oi, Harry!  Hermione!  You've got the Head badges on!"  At this, Seamus Finnegan poked his head out of the car also, and smiled at them.

"What are you doing back here, then, mates?  Go up to the front and into your own car!" He shouted at them, as he was being pulled back into the car by Dean Thomas, who hardly had time to wave at them before he shut the door to the noisy compartment.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Hermione muttered under her breath as they headed to the front of the train.  "I knew that the Head students have their own car, I read it in _Hogwarts, A History_ ages ago!"

Ginny saw Ron wince at the title to Hermione's favorite book for the first time that school year.  Harry hid a laugh with a cough, and they found the Head Boy and Girl compartment.  Sliding in, the five of them gawked at their surroundings.  Instead of the normal compartment with just the window and two benches at the sides, there were three separate windows.  On one side of the compartment stood a large couch and an armchair, and on the other side, two overstuffed armchairs.  In between them stood a table that was bolted down to the floor so it wouldn't move, and there was a small bar on the side that had bottles of water and soda lined up.  

Ginny immediately found her way to the armchair that was next to the couch, and the others quickly followed suit, sitting down.  Ron and Hermione had gotten the couch to themselves, and immediately started talking in hushed tones.  Kota and Harry had been left with the armchairs on the other side of the compartment, and she watched as each of them quickly unrolled some parchment to undoubtedly do some left over summer homework.  Glad that she had finished the essays the night before, Ginny let her eyes close.  A nap was just what she needed at the moment, for the last time that she had looked at Harry, she had seen the image of him that morning, in nothing but a towel.

*

*

Ginny didn't know how long she had slept, but she awoke to the sun shining brighter in the sky.  She drowsily rubbed at her eyes, until she felt someone next to her, looking at her.  She turned her head to see that it was now Harry and Hermione who were occupying the couch, as it was closer to the lights on the wall, and both of them were reading.  She looked up into bright green, and Harry grinned at her.  He motioned with his head for her to come closer, and she scooted over in her chair so that she was closer to him.  "What?" she asked.

He motioned to the book that he was reading.  She saw that it was old and bound in leather; it was one of the journals that they had found in the Potter vault.  "Is that….?" She asked, though she knew it was.  Harry nodded to her, and he showed her something to read in the book.

It was small, neat script, though every line or two the letters were rather bumpy looking.  

Here I am on the train to Hogwarts for my last year of school.  It's hard to believe that we Marauders have lasted this long, to be honest.  We've done a lot of great things over the years, and they're all like my brothers.  Sirius is my best mate, don't know how I'd last the day without him.  Remus is an incredibly great friend, and I don't know what I'd do without him, either.  Peter, though he is kind of…odd at times, has stuck by us through and through.  Yeah, we Marauders have done pretty well at Hogwarts.  I still can't believe that it is almost over, hell I can't believe that I made Head Boy, either. Who'd have thought that I, of all people, would get it.  Not that I doubted that Lily would be Head Girl, but I didn't think I would make Head Boy in a million years.   The Head Boy and Girl compartment is really something though, with the couch and armchairs.  Even a bar! (Though it doesn't hold anything alcoholic, Sirius already checked first thing.)  The other four, Sirius, Remus, Bella, and Peter, left a little while ago to find the witch with the candy, so Lils and I are here alone.  She's sleeping with her head on my shoulder, so I suppose that's why I keep messing up every now and then.  

_She and I have come a long way.  First year, we hated each other from first sight for some strange reason, and then second year we were inseparable, have been ever since.  Don't understand it, really, and I don't pretend to.  I'm just happy that we made the move to being a couple in the beginning of fifth year.  I don't know what I would do without her.  It's scary to think that this is our last year of school together, and that we could be separated after we graduate.  We're already full wizard and witch though, and lately I've been thinking a lot about the future.  I know that I want to be an Auror, and I think that Lily does too, but all I know is that I don't know what I'll do if I can't be with her every day.  _

_That's why I bought the ring.  Sure, last year we bought each other a promise ring, but I mean that I bought her THE RING.  Sirius went with me to Diagon Alley the day after I saw Lily looking in the window at the jewelry shop when we got our school supplies.  It's got a diamond, and two small emeralds.  Just like her eyes.  I couldn't think of anything else when I saw that ring, all I thought of were her eyes, so I couldn't help but pick that one.  Even Sirius sobered for a moment, and told me that if I didn't get that ring for her I'd be crazy.  It's like it was made for her or something.  I don't know when I'm going to ask her, but I know that it will be soon.  I love her so much, and I can't wait to know that she'll truly be with me forever.  There is nothing that I want more.  _

_We're almost there, so I suppose I should wake Sleeping Beauty.  Don't really want her to wake up and read this over my shoulder, that's not the way that I want to ask her._

The text ended there on that page, and Ginny gasped when she realized what she'd just read.  She looked up at Harry, who had been watching her intently as she read.  "That's…Harry, it's so hard to believe, you know?"  She watched his face; he looked as if he was transfixed by what he had been reading.  He nodded.

"It's weird, Gin, reading about my parents to begin with, let alone the same day that they're talking about is today…" They were whispering, because now the other three were asleep.  Harry's green eyes looked darker than usual, as if he was taking in a lot more than what he was saying.  She could tell that he was thinking, but she also knew that it was hard for him to read these thoughts in the journal in front of him, instead of having his parents there beside him. He gazed off into space for a minute, and she watched him.

His face, though much older than the boy that she had met for the first time back at King's Cross seven years ago, was still slightly boyish, though it was disappearing fast.  His expression was hard, making him look as though he was older.  His hands tightly clutched the now closed journal of his father so hard that the knuckles were white, and Ginny knew that he was thinking about something serious.  Timidly, she reached out her own hand and lay it on top of one of his to offer some sort of comfort.  He let it lay there for a minute before taking his other hand and placing it on top of hers, still staring straight ahead.  She gave his hand a little squeeze, and he squeezed back, not letting go.

She knew him well enough to know that he wanted silence, so she just turned her head and looked out of the window.  Her own thoughts were running through her mind at a mile a minute, about so many different things.  She thought about the school year coming up, about the rest of her family back home at the Burrow, but most of all, she thought of Harry.  Their relationship that past year or so had come so far, just like James' journal entry had mentioned about him and Lily. The two of them had become even closer over the summer at the Burrow, as she had confided in him about her dreams, and he had let her into a part of his past that he hadn't even let Dumbledore in on.  She thought for a moment about how James and Lily must have felt at this moment during their seventh year, and how different it was from how Harry felt.  No doubt, they were all happy to be with their friends, but James and Lily had each other.  Harry had just himself, in that regard. 

That thought of Harry involuntarily led to the thought of him in nothing but a white towel, and she bit down on her lip as she tried not to blush at the memory.  It was times like this that Ginny didn't understand herself.  Harry was her friend, possibly her best friend, but she couldn't stop her heart from racing some of the time that she was with him.  She couldn't stop the way that she thought of him, and she couldn't stop the fact that she was starting to see him in an entirely different light than anyone had ever seen.  She knew that she knew the real Harry, and that was something that not many people could accomplish.  She was close to him, she befriended him, and he the same to her.  She bit down harder on her lip, trying to figure out why she felt the way she did sometimes, when it was obvious that they were just friends.  She tried to figure out what had happened over the summer, after she had confided in him about her nightmares.  How had she suddenly, somehow, gotten better?  Why had she dealt with them so much easier when Harry was there?  She didn't understand it.

The feeling of Harry squeezing her hand again made her thoughts snap back to the present.  The train had stopped – they had arrived at Hogwarts.


	10. Chapter Nine Gryffindor Common Room

Sorry it's been so long, guys.  Hopefully this will make up for the lack of updates – I just finally got situated at school and everything, so hopefully it'll be sooner before the next update for you.

Disclaimer:  Same as before.  It's JK Rowling's, and I'm just playing around.

Chapter Nine

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry loomed before the students as they entered the building's huge iron gates.  The chatter of the first years could be heard coming from the lake as they were rowed across with Hagrid, and the bustle of the other students added in on the clamor.  Ginny stuck close to her brother, Harry, and Hermione though she saw many of the students from her own class.  It was better that way, she thought, when she stuck by her true friends.  She hadn't found Dakota yet, but she had no doubt that she would know the second that she entered the school.  Her friend had no trouble making herself heard.

"Come on," she heard Hermione hiss to them as they hurried towards the Great Hall.  "Harry and I will be expected to be there on time!"

As expected, Hermione was taking her duty as Head Girl very seriously.  Ginny hid a grin as she watched her brother shake his head at Harry, who just shrugged helplessly.  He knew that they were probably expected to get there early, also. She and Ron continued towards the Great Hall at a normal pace while they watched Harry hurry to try and reach Hermione, who was almost running towards the Hall.  Minerva McGonnegal watched as the two Head students rushed past her, then had to hide a smile when they doubled back to meet her in the doorway.

Hermione immediately started explaining why they had been late, but the professor shushed her when she herself began to speak.  "I was very happy to see that two Gryffindors were the Head students this year," she began as the two students caught their breath from their almost-sprint, "I hope you realize that this is not a position to be taken lightly.  The Head Boy and Girl are the ones that the younger students look up to, and they mustn't be getting into trouble themselves."  A stern look accompanied the short speech from their Head of House, and Harry fought back the intuition to gulp.  He knew that he was the cause of many mishaps in the school, and to be perfectly honest, he wasn't exactly sure how he had been able to get Head Boy, anyways.  Hermione had been a shoe-in from the day that she had set foot into the school, but Harry himself had barely been made a Prefect back in their fifth year.  Head Boy was an accomplishment that he still didn't believe that he had been able to reach.  He was proud, surely, to be following in his father's footsteps, but he was anxious to see what the year would bring. Harry realized that the professor was still talking, and he turned his attention back to her in time to walk with her and Hermione to the Great Hall.

The four house tables were three quarters full each, with some seats left for the first years who would be getting sorted very soon.  Ron and Ginny were sitting on the side of Gryffindor's table that was facing away from the professors' table, and they looked deep in conversation when Harry and Hermione walked up and sat down across from them.  The two's heads snapped up, and they both smiled when they sat down.   Harry was about to ask what was going on, but he was interrupted by Headmaster Dumbledore.

A brilliant wizard, Albus Dumbledore stood proudly in front of his school.  His long white hair contrasted greatly with the deep blue color of his robes, as did his long beard.  The pointed hat perched atop his head tilted just slightly to the side as he spoke.  "We will begin the new year," he began, stretching out his arms, "with the tradition of the Sorting."  With that said, the entire hall grew abuzz with whispers and talk; the second years remembering all to well what the first years were going through at the moment, and the seventh years wishing that they could go through it all again.  Professor McGonnegal walked in through the huge doors at that moment, leading a single file line of first years that looked scared to death.  

Ginny couldn't help but look at the young children and smile wistfully.  She remembered all too well what it felt like to be in that position.  "They've no idea that all they are to do is try on a hat," she mused quietly, and the people around her agreed.  She watched on as the Sorting began with a tiny little blond haired girl that reminded Ginny a lot of Dakota.  The thought struck her that she hadn't seen her friend yet, and her eyes instantly flew away from the Sorting and started looking around Gryffindor's long table.  She searched face after face for her friend, but it wasn't until her eyes reached the end of the table closest to the doors that she found her white-blond friend.  She looked out of breath, as if she, too, had sprinted into the Great Hall.  Dakota caught Ginny's questioning eyes and smiled brightly.  'Peeves,' she mouthed to her, and Ginny nodded knowingly.  The school poltergeist had made it known the year before that he somewhat liked Dakota, and he seemingly followed her everywhere that he could at times.  It was tiresome and annoying, but it really made for an adventure when they tried to sneak about the castle without being caught.

The clapping of her fellow Gryffindors brought Ginny back to the task at hand; the Sorting was already half over.  She watched as a young boy that uncannily reminded her of the twins' friend Lee Jordan sat down happily with a few other first years at the end of the table.  She smiled when he turned and waved energetically at both her and Ron, who gave the little guy a thumbs up.  'That settles it then,' she thought as she smiled at the beaming boy, 'it'll be interesting around the Quidditch pitch if that really is another Jordan!'  Her eyes wondered up and down the rest of the table, studying the faces of her housemates and sadly smiling when she remembered a face that would not be returning this year.  Her gaze lingered on Harry, straight across from her, as she thought about her past years at Hogwarts.  'We've really come a long way, haven't we,' she thought.  Remembering back to her first year, she remembered how she had admired him so much, and then there was the Chamber incident, as she liked to call it.  She had been such a baby back then, she thought, and she had made it so obvious to Harry that she had had a crush on him.  The next few years had gotten better, but not much…the singing get-well card stood out in her mind, and she winced at that memory alone.  

'But we have had some good times together,' she thought, her gaze intent on his face, which was turned towards the Sorting that was almost over.  She watched as his new glasses shone in the light of the Great Hall, making it hard to actually see the green eyes that she knew were hiding behind them.  Her eyes traveled up to his unruly hair, which truly did look a bit better this year, and then settled on his scar.  Every time she looked at it, it made her breath catch in her throat, and today it was no different.  To Ginny, the meaning behind the scar was enormous, and she couldn't believe that he now wore it with an array of indifference.  At that thought, her eyes traveled back to where his would be, and she remembered more about the past parts of her life that were intertwined with Harry Potter as he sat there, oblivious to the fact that Ginny was looking at him intently.

There had been his fourth year, when the Tri-Wizard Tournament had happened, and Ginny remembered how horrid she had felt when Harry hadn't appeared at the surface of the lake first.  Numerous Quidditch games came to mind, at the school as well in the makeshift pitch behind the Burrow.  As her thoughts grew more recent, Ginny blinked, and then closed her eyes when she thought of this past summer.  Something, somehow had changed between them, but she wasn't really sure what it was.  There had been her inexplicable recovery from her nightmares.  There had been the trip to Diagon Alley.  There had been the closeness of the two in Gringott's, as well as when he had received his letter about being Head Boy.  Somewhere along the lines, Harry had stopped seeing her simply as Ron's little sister, and for that reason, she was extremely happy.  She had always been drawn to him, but unable to get close to him, had watched from a distance.  Her eyes opened as she thought about the Harry that she had seen at the Burrow that morning, wearing nothing more than a towel.  It was with that thought, that her eyes opened fully, only to be met with the color green.

Her breath caught in her throat again as it had when she had looked at his scar, but Ginny didn't look away.  She met his gaze head on, and the two became oblivious to the ending of the Sorting ceremony.

*

*

Ginny sighed.  She was curled up on the couch in the Gryffindor Common Room, in front of the fire.  Even though it was only September, the warmth that it gave off was welcomed greatly, and her mind again whirled with thought as she looked out the window.  She had so much on her mind that she didn't quite notice someone else walk into the Common Room and sit down right next to her.  It was not until the someone sat back, propped his legs up on the coffee table, and put his arms across his chest with a sigh of his own that Ginny was startled and she realized who it was.

Harry.

"Hey, Gin," he said carelessly as he, too, stared into the fire.  His school robes were unbuttoned to reveal the white shirt underneath, and Ginny caught herself before her eyes rested on his abdomen longer than necessary.  'The boy simply has no clue,' she thought to herself.  

A leather book was placed into her hands, and she looked up at Harry, questioningly.  "Read it," he urged, "I think you'll understand…"  He trailed off, but he pointed to the book.  Ginny realized that it was one of his father's journals, and she started reading.

September 2nd 

_It wasn't until I stepped off the carriage and walked into the Great Hall that I realized exactly what it meant to be a seventh year.  Not only a seventh year, but Head Boy at that.  I look around me, at my friends, and for the life of me I cannot imagine where we will be at this time next year.  I'm giving serious thought to becoming an Auror, honestly, but I don't know how Lily would react to hearing that.  Sirius is thinking that we could go into Auror training together.  Remus doesn't quite know what to do in the future, he says, but I say he's too smart to just sit at home.  He knows things that other people don't, and he needs to let the world know.  And Peter says that he also doesn't know what to do with his life, but I doubt it will be Auror training next year.  Sometimes I can't help but wonder about that guy.  Anyway, a few of the seventh year girls are talking about opening up shops in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley.  It seems like a good idea to me, but Lily doesn't really think so.  All I know is that though it's uncertain, I am kind of looking forward to being an Auror._

Ginny looked up at Harry after she read that paragraph.  She knew that she was reading James' thoughts of the same thing that Harry was going through, and that might explain why he was being so quiet.  She herself knew that Ron hadn't decided what he wanted to do after school, and Hermione hadn't completely decided yet, either.  It had to be weird to read a parent's thought on the matter, not counting on the fact that they had experienced the same feelings years ago.  Harry was still staring into space, so Ginny read on in the entry.

_Lily is another story altogether.  I can't help but think that she is going to be a rather large part of my future, but I have no idea of what will be happening there.  I know what I want to happen, for Merlin's sake I have a RING with the intent to put it on her finger, but it's so…odd to think that we are at the points in our lives where we can think of the future like this.  It's on our fingertips, almost literally, but we really don't know what is going to happen, even in the near future.  It's scary when you think about it._

Ginny stopped reading there and once again looked up at Harry.  She shifted so she was closer to him, and tried to figure out what to say.  She didn't need to, though, because it was Harry who spoke first.

"I can't help but realize how much he sounds like me in that," he said softly, his eyes never leaving the fire.  "About the future, I mean," he added quickly.  Finally tearing his eyes away from the blaze, he turned and faced her.  "About it being his seventh year here, being Head Boy, and not knowing at all what to do afterwards."

"Oh, Harry," she said.  She could imagine what it felt like to be in that position, and it was multiplied tenfold for Harry because the future included Voldemort, certainly.  "I don't know what to say," she said softly, absentmindedly taking one of his hands in both of hers and tracing lines across the back of it with her finger.  "You don't have any idea of who you want to be w-er, what you want to do after you leave school?"  She mentally cursed herself for her mistake, and felt her cheeks begin to burn.  She deliberately kept her eyes on his hand, so she wouldn't have to meet his eyes and the inquiring glance that she knew she would see there.

He caught her slip up, and suddenly it seemed so…intimate that she was holding his hand instead of the comforting gesture it had seemed like just seconds before.  Her fingertips began to leave a trail of tingles on the back of his hand, and he tried to ignore it as much as he could.  "I don't know," he said, looking at her.  She too had her robes unbuttoned to reveal the white Hogwarts shirt underneath, and her gleaming red hair framed her face.   He followed her gaze down to their hands, and he swallowed.  "I just don't know."

The two sat in silence, staring at their hands unconsciously.  Somewhere along the way, Ginny had  stopped tracing shapes on the back of his hand, and his other one had come to rest on top of both of hers.  Neither of them knew what they were doing, just that is was right to talk right now, that it was right to be next to each other.

"My dad had an idea of what he wanted to do after school," Harry said after a few minutes passed by.  "I've hardly given any thought to it.  It's been kind of…" he cut off for a moment, and Ginny could hear him swallow roughly, "kind of year-to-year that I've concentrated on first, you know?"

Ginny nodded, knowing the underlying meaning behind his words.  She had kind of expected him to be thinking along those lines, but it was what he said next that shocked her.

Harry's eyes lifted from their hands and she felt his gaze on her face.  It was almost like he was willing her to look up at him, and she complied.  Her eyes met his fiercely, and he took a deep breath before letting it out in a hiss.  "My dad had my mum to get him through his last year here," he said in a lower tone of voice than normal, "and I'm just happy that I have you to do that for me."

*

*

The drapes drawn around her bedside, Ginny let out a breath of air that she hadn't even been aware that she'd been holding.  She settled back into the pillows and her mind couldn't help but wander back to the fireplace in the Common Room just a few hours before.

'Sweet Merlin,' she thought to herself as she shut her eyes, 'I just keep learning more and more about Harry every time I talk to him, don't I.'  She had known that he was unsure of what to do in the future, but she hadn't known what to say at all when he had literally compared the two of them to his mother and father.  Or, rather, he had compared her to his mother.  Or maybe it was him to his father.  At this point, she was so confused about what he had been trying to imply, that she was almost going out of her mind to try and figure it out.

'I had just been thinking about how much we've gone through, and then he says that,' she turned under the covers, 'I don't get…this…this THING.  It started with him realizing my nightmares, and then this summer we got quite close…it almost seems, it almost seems as if it's just natural now, though.  It's not just me being drawn to him…'

The thought was the last thing that crossed her mind as she slipped into sleep.  


	11. Chapter Ten Night

Told you guys that it would start picking back up for a little bit!  
  
Disclaimer: Most certainly not mine. Talk to Joanne if you have questions. I've just.borrowed her characters for a little while!  
  
Chapter Ten  
  
The school was nearly silent, for it was as silent as Hogwarts would ever be. Owls hooted softly into the night, Peeves roamed the halls, and Mrs. Norris let out a few small mews, but other than that, it was perfectly silent to the ear. Students were peacefully at rest before their first day of classes.  
  
Except for one girl in Gryffindor's sixth year dormitory.  
  
Ginny Weasley had gone to sleep rather early, her friend Dakota had noted before she herself had turned in, and to say that her sleep was peaceful would be saying exactly the opposite of what it actually was. The young woman was in bed, yes, but she slept restlessly and tossed and turned.  
  
The long red hair stretched across the pillow, moving only when she turned her head, which was currently every few moments. Her face carried a pained look, and a small murmer escaped her lips.  
  
She was dressed up in gorgeous robes for the ball. She could that her hair was exquisitely done on top of her head in an up-do that let a few curls fall loose around her face and neck. She felt rather than saw the robes that she was wearing, because the satin and silk was soft against her skin. She smoothed out the skirt of the robes as she stood from the chair, and she looked around for a mirror. Seeing one across the room, she picked up the skirt of her robes so it wouldn't brush along the ground behind her. Suddenly she felt the weight of a ring on her left hand as the rich material brushed against it, but she didn't have the chance to look at it.  
  
Tom Riddle had suddenly appeared before her. The teenaged Tom Riddle, not Voldemort, although this one scared her just as much as the other would have. Her breath caught in her throat as the familiar dark haired boy smiled evilly at her.  
  
"Wh-what are you doing here?" her voice sounded different. It was frantic, almost, and it was obvious that she was scared.  
  
Tom didn't answer. Instead, he began to walk around her in a circle, muttering to himself a few times. She could only make out a few words. "Seventh year .broke.gone.here."  
  
She was starting to become more angry than scared. Seeing Tom in a daze like this.something wasn't right. She couldn't quite place it exactly, and it took her a moment to figure it out.  
  
He was holding a wand, but his hands were bloody. Red drops fell from his fingertips and were absorbed into the carpet of the dormitory as he walked, and she could see that he was in some kind of shock about something. A shudder ran up and down her spine as more and more blood fell from his hands, and her eyes spied his wand sticking out of the back pocket of his trousers. It, too, for some reason, was bloody and dripping.  
  
Tom suddenly stopped walking and turned to face her, a menacing look in his eyes, already slanted as if an advance on what he would become later on in his life. She met his gaze almost defiantly, though she was still scared of why he was bloody. A wizard had no reason to be bloody.  
  
"What happened?" Her voice was softer now, almost as if she was hesitant to ask. And she was, but she had to.  
  
His eyes narrowed even more, if that was actually possible, and he sneered. "Let's just say that the seventh year boys dorm is no longer."  
  
She couldn't move after she heard those words. Was no longer? That meant.that meant that.No. No, it couldn't be. Her legs were seemingly glued to the floor, and though she willed them to move with all of her strength, she couldn't. She let out a frustrated cry minutes later when it was obvious that something was impeding her movement. She looked up from her feet to see a wand aimed at her, and though she didn't hear the words, she did see the green flash of light.  
  
Ginny's eyes popped open at that, and she gasped for air. Sitting up, the freezing air hit her from all sides. A small hand went to wipe her hair out of her face, and she found sweat on her forehead and damp hair. Regardless, she was freezing, and the only thing that she could think of was to get near the fire in the Common Room to warm up. She slid out of bed, shivering, and found her slippers. Slipping them on, she grabbed her light dressing gown and slid it on over her shorts and camisole. It added some warmth, but not much. She silently made her way down the stairs to the Common Room, and was relieved to find the fire still blazing upon her entrance. She shivered again, her teeth almost chattering now. The visions from her dream were starting to come back to her now, and those were at fault for the shivering just as much as was the fact that she was cold. She slid around an armchair, and stopped abruptly when she saw someone else sitting on the couch.  
  
It was undoubtedly Harry. His now strong physique was so easy for her to distinguish, and she couldn't help but stop in her tracks at the sight of him, though she still shivered. Still wearing the clothing from the day, it was obvious that he hadn't been up to bed yet. His robes were now lying next to him on the sofa, and his strong arms showed through the short sleeved shirt that he wore. He looked pensively at the fire, his brow furrowed in deep concentration, and it wasn't until Ginny moved to slip a strand of hair behind her ears that he even noticed her there at all.  
  
His head turned towards her in surprise, and once he saw the state that she was in, he shot up to his feet. "Merlin, Gin, you're shaking," he said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement, but she nodded anyways, still not moving. He moved closer to her and noticed that her teeth were chattering also, and saw the look in her eyes. She looked as if she was in a daze, almost, as if she was somewhere else and not aware what her body was doing. He led her to the couch and she automatically sat down, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging them. She buried her face in her hands that were resting on her legs, and she felt Harry's robes come around her shoulders. Instant warmth flowed through her back where it touched, and the scent that she identified as strictly Harry filled her nose. She lifted her head and looked at the fire silently.  
  
"It was another one, wasn't it," he said. Like before, it wasn't a question, but rather a statement. He knew what it felt like to have nightmares; what he didn't understand was why Ginny was having them now, and not him.  
  
Ginny nodded an answer, and Harry sighed and closed his own eyes when he saw hers begin to well up with tears as more memories of the dream came back to her. He hated seeing anyone in this state, and the fact that it was Ginny just made it worse for him. It was someone that he actually cared about.  
  
He slid closer to her on the couch and slipped his arm around her back. She instantly leaned into him, and he brought her closer. More tears escaped her eyes, but he somehow made it better, almost. Just his presence was healing to her.  
  
"It was Tom this time," she said, almost in a whisper. "There was a girl, I think it was me, who was ready for a ball.he appeared, out of nowhere, just like first year." She had to stop there, because the memories came back full force now. Though it hadn't been that awful of a dream compared to some that she had had before, she was in shock from seeing Tom up close and personal again.  
  
Harry didn't quite know what to do, so instead he did what came naturally. He ran his hand up and down her arm in somewhat of a calming fashion, and leaned the side of his head against hers silently, waiting for her to go on. She continued. "He was all bloody for some reason, Harry. His hands were dripping blood, and he said something about having destroyed the seventh year dorm."  
  
She was no longer crying, just leaning into Harry's side for comfort now. "Damnit, Harry, why am I having these dreams?" she whispered to him. "Why me?"  
  
She felt him shake his head. "I don't know, Gin."  
  
They sat in silence for a few minutes longer, and Ginny was just starting to get comfortable with where she was sitting when a rather loud bang interrupted it.  
  
There was the book that they had received at Flourish and Blotts, the day that they had picked up their school supplies.  
  
* *  
  
Prophecies Within Legacies: The Predictions was sitting on the coffee table, having somehow come down the stairs. Harry and Ginny sat for a moment in silence, then they turned and looked at one another, and then they turned and looked back at the book again in disbelief. The faded cover was dark even in the light of the fire, and Harry hesitantly reached out and picked it up. He brought it closer to inspect, and he flipped it open.  
  
There were many pages, but the strangest thing was that they were blank. Harry flipped quickly through the book, and then went back to the beginning to see if he was sure. He was flipping the pages quickly again, but one by one now.  
  
Ginny stopped him at one of the pages. "I think I saw something, go back a little," she said softly. Harry complied, and went back a few pages. There were faint outlines of words on the page, and they both squinted to see the words. Harry stood up abruptly and walked closer to the firelight, Ginny following him quickly.  
  
The words only covered part of the page, and they were very faint, as if someone had tried to go back and erase the ink. Ginny, having the better eyesight of the two, saw the words first. She reached out and stilled Harry's hands as he was trying to situate the book so he himself could read it.  
  
She cleared her throat a little bit before she spoke the words on the page.  
  
"The boy who survives a trial as a child Will learn of his family legacy The year that he gains his full power. He will know of his strength only when He finds she of whom his heart desires. The two are destined to be lovers; One created for the other. Innocent will they both be Until in the arms of one another."  
  
She spoke the words quietly and quickly, and their meanings didn't come into play until after she had already spoken them. Realization struck her, and suddenly her hands that were holding Harry's started to tingle. She raised her head and looked into his eyes.  
  
His expression mirrored hers; it was one of shock and realization. His breathing deepened a little, and he was letting out a slow breath when she looked up at him. The firelight made his glasses gleam, and she saw him close his eyes beneath them. She felt his hands grip the book harder, and she suddenly realized how very close they were standing.  
  
Once again, it was Harry who spoke first while he opened his eyes to look back into hers. "What do you suppose this means?" he asked.  
  
She shook her head. "I.I don't know," she answered, taking the book from his hands and looking closer at the letters. They had somehow gotten darker. She lowered her eyebrows in question and looked up at Harry, who had noticed it also. "And it looks like there is an outline of more," she murmured. It was true. She could see something like a shadow on the page, making it look as if there was more to the stanza. They stared at the book for a few moments longer before Ginny snapped it shut and leaned down to set it on the table.  
  
"I am so confused," she said softly. Harry couldn't help but agree.something didn't make sense, and what confused him most of all at the moment were the words that Ginny had seen on the page and read aloud. It was plainly obvious that it was about him.about the boy who survives as a child.who else could it really be about? It was what Ginny's involvement meant in all of this that confused him, too.  
  
It took a moment for Ginny to realize that they were still standing closely together, her hands over his. The meaning of the words were starting to repeat in her mind, and she couldn't help but think, 'Am I the one it was talking about?'. She closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of Harry's cologne, and she tucked her head into the crook of his neck. It had been an odd night, that much was for sure.  
  
Harry's hands slipped away from her own and wrapped around her back. She felt him lock his arms protectively around her, and they stood in silence after she wrapped her own arms behind his back. Her eyes had fluttered open awhile ago, but still they stood in the light from the fire. Both of them were running the almost poem through their minds as they tried to figure out what it meant, and it took Ginny a moment to realize that Harry had started to pull his head away. She instinctively lifted her head and turned it up towards him to see if he would say something.  
  
She didn't expect him to slightly tilt his head and lower his lips to her forehead. He kissed her temple and she smiled gently. She turned her face up even more, and he leaned his forehead against hers. The look in his eyes was unmistakable; even Ginny, at sixteen, had been around guys enough to know that that kind of look came from a man who wanted to be thoroughly kissed. Knowing that her own eyes were most likely mirroring the gesture, Ginny's nose slid to the side of his, and her face tilted at the lightest of angles. She began to lean into him, and he into her. His arms tightened around her back, and Ginny could just feel the warmth radiating off of his face as it slowly neared hers. One of her hands slid into his hair in preparation to bring his lips down to hers sooner rather than later, at the rate they were going at.  
  
But a voice coming from the boys' staircase stopped them dead in their tracks. "Harry? That you, mate?"  
  
Ginny instantly pulled away from Harry, her mind frazzled, as her older brother walked into the room. Ron looked around the room to see who was there, and surprise showed on his face when he registered it was his only sister. "Is everything alright?" he asked.  
  
Ginny opened her mouth to answer, but Harry beat her to it. "Nothing's wrong, Ron. Neither of us could sleep, and we were just keeping each other company," he said, sitting back down on the couch. Ron curiously eyed Ginny and she felt her cheeks darken as she realized that she still had Harry's robes over her dressing gown. Ron overlooked it, however, probably in sleepiness, and turned back to the staircase with a yawn.  
  
"Well, I'm off to bed again then. Thought I heard a loud bang.like a book being dropped or something," he said on his way up the staircase. "G'night." A loud yawn resounded throughout the Common Room as his footsteps became fainter, and they heard the curtain to the boys' dormitory open and shut as he went back to bed.  
  
Not knowing what to do, Ginny turned and looked at Harry. He was still standing by the fireplace in the place where they had both been just moments ago, and Ginny felt her face flush when she realized exactly what had been going on and what was going to happen. 'Damnit, Ron, you have impeccable timing,' she thought wryly as she neared the stairway to the girls' dormitories.  
  
She stopped abruptly and turned around. She didn't want to just.leave Harry after what they were about to do before. A gasp escaped her lips as she realized that Harry was right behind her. He wasted no time in drawing her close to him this time; his arms went around her and held her there protectively, one arm above the other. Her own arms wrapped around him, and once again he rested his forehead against hers. She saw his eyes close slowly as he just stood there, holding her. "I don't know what this means, Gin," he said hoarsely. The rumble of his deeper voice made something in Ginny's stomach flutter, and she nodded slowly. Somehow, she understood the underlying meaning of his words.  
  
Harry was just as clueless about the situation as she was. Not just about the.whatever it was, the poem, but about them. She'd known for awhile that her feelings had evolved for him, but she hadn't been sure about his. Given the events of the day, though, she now had a pretty good feeling about what he felt towards her.  
  
They stood there for a moment in silence, before neither one of them could take it anymore. Ginny was breathing heavier than usual in anticipation of what she knew was to come, and then she didn't have to wait any longer. Harry Potter leaned down to her just as she leaned into him, and his lips caught hers in an exquisite embrace that neither one of them thought would be quite so electric.  
  
* *  
  
If the fire was warm, then the kiss that was occurring between the two Gryffindors was sizzling. No thoughts except for those that had to do with Harry crossed through Ginny's mind. The nightmare, the book, everything else that had happened left her mind, and all of her senses were attuned to him. Once her eyes had fluttered shut, one of her hands had found its way to his hair again, and he pulled her to him as much as he could. The kiss progressed quickly, a sign of what the two of them were feeling, and Ginny quivered when Harry tilted his head at more of an angle to deepen the contact. A moan escaped lips, and Ginny honestly wasn't sure if it was her or Harry that made the throaty growl.  
  
Ginny gasped when she felt her back hit the stone wall of the stairway, and it brought a new feeling altogether when Harry pressed his body against hers, pinning her to the wall with his muscular body. Ginny's other hand crept its way up to the back of Harry's neck, and his hands found their way to her hips. Holding her in place against the wall, Harry pressed even more against her. This time, Ginny knew it was her that moaned when she felt the full body contact.  
  
Gradually, the kiss lessoned until they slowly pulled apart. When she opened her eyes, she was met with a flash of deep, swirling green, and his lips pressed against her lips again quickly. "Good night, Gin," he said against her lips, and he pulled away from her completely. His arms pulled his robe close to her as he removed them from her hips, and Ginny fought back a moan at the loss of contact with him.  
  
"Good night, Harry," she whispered to him as he continued to hold her gaze. She watched as he backed away towards the boys' staircase, and went up the stairs before turning and going up to her own dormitory.  
  
The mirror in her room made a knowing "Mmm hmm," when Ginny looked into it as she passed by it on her way to her bed. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips were still dark pink from the deep contact they had held with Harry's just moments before. Turning, she climbed back into her bed and settled into the pillows, pulling Harry's robes close around her instead of the covers. She breathed in deeply, inhaling the scent that was just.Harry. She fell asleep quickly, her mind on the events of moments before instead of the nightmares that had woken her up before. 


	12. Chapter Eleven Day

I am so sorry that it's taken me so long to get another chapter out for you guys…I had 18 credits, two jobs, and a college sport going on first semester, but now that it's Christmas break I should be getting them out quicker…hopefully!  Sorry this one is so short; it's a transition chapter for me.

Chapter Eleven

_"I don't know what this means, Gin."_

The raspy memory of Harry's voice half-woke Ginny, reminding her of the events of the previous night.  She sighed lightly, a small smile breaking out on her face as the events flashed through her mind in rapid succession: the feel of his warm arms surrounding her as he pulled her closer to his strong body, resulting in a tingling sensation that rapidly spread throughout her entire body, ranging from her hairline on her forehead to the tips of her toes on her feet.  She remembered the deep green in Harry's eyes as he looked at her, and the hungry look that she saw there.  The growing pupils in his eyes were a dead giveaway of what he was thinking, and for a brief moment Ginny held her breath before she let herself remember the feeling of his lips pressing on her own.  That memory led only to the intense feeling of being pressed against the wall, and the feeling of Harry's body keeping her tightly against him as they both fought to hold some kind of composure.

She had to admit to herself that she had always imagined what it would be like the first time that she and Harry would kiss.  She had been dreaming of it since she was ten; she had imagined at least a thousand different ways in which it could happen.  The possibilities were limitless to her, back then, and she could imagine making a list in her first diary – before she had sworn them off in her second year.  She'd imagined them kissing under mistletoe, under the full moon on a sandy beach, in front of the lake there at Hogwarts, in the back of the Burrow where her parents couldn't see…she'd had such a vivid imagination that she wanted to experience each and every possible way that Harry's lips had a chance of descending onto hers.

'Such a shame that I had never imagined a stairwell,' she thought as she snuggled deeper into her pillows, letting the blanket that was covering her come up to her chin.  

It was then that she realized that it wasn't just a blanket covering her.  In fact, she realized as she lazily opened a single eye, it wasn't a blanket at all that she was using as covers.  It was Harry's cloak.  

'Well that explains why I could smell him all night,' she thought with a smile, and she closed her eye again, letting Harry's cloak completely cover her, save her face.  She knew that it was a classless Friday (Professor Dumbledore had announced it at the beginning of the week for 'resting' from a hard week of classes.  Everyone but Hermione was overjoyed.), and for Ginny, the current time of remembering the previous night was too precious to throw away by getting out of bed and facing what may come during the day.  She'd drawn her curtains around her bed, so she knew that the other girls in her dorm wouldn't be bothering her if they were already awake.  From the sound of it, though, it was still fairly early, so she doubted that she had anything to worry about anyways.  

Letting the faint memories wash over herself, Ginny let herself fall back to sleep.  Merlin knew, she didn't get enough good sleep anyways, so this would be welcome.

*

*

_"I don't know what this means, Gin."_

Harry almost groaned out loud as he awoke as his own statement from the previous night came back to his mind.  So much had happened the previous night that his statement was completely true, in more than one meaning.  

He was confused about the book, and what the words meant that it contained.

Even more so, though, he was confused about what had happened with Ginny.

He let his head fall in between the two pillows at the head of his bed as the memories came back to him at just the thought of her name.  He'd known that his feelings for Ron's sister were strong, but he'd had no idea that his feelings had run quite that deep, to have a kiss like that.  

'I've got to stop calling her 'Ron's little sister'," he thought humorously as he closed his eyes to see if he could envision their encounter on the girl's dormitory stairs. 

He'd fully intended to kiss her, there was no way that he would deny that.  It had been building up within him for months, and his feelings for her could no longer simply be hidden.  They were starting to get too strong.  It had started the previous year, when they had become closer friends, and his feelings for the redhead had just grown as she let him into her life more and more.  The summer had just topped things off; the trip to Diagon Alley taking the cake for helping him realize just how deep his appreciation for her was.  He hadn't been expecting that, that's for sure.

Just like he hadn't expected that kiss to be what it had turned out to be.  As he'd already admitted to himself, he'd wanted to kiss her.  He knew he was going to kiss her.  He just hadn't expected to have her pressed up against the wall, letting his body show her exactly what was on his mind.  And he also hadn't expected her to react with the same amount of enthusiasm that he had been expressing.  He _really_ hadn't been expecting that to happen.    

But that didn't mean that he hadn't liked it. He closed his eyes tighter at the thought that he had quite possibly liked it a little _too_ much. 

And now, he didn't know what to do.  About any of it.  His first thought was to run to Hermione and show her the text that had appeared in the book, but he didn't know how she would handle it.  She would want to know everything that had happened the previous night, to get a background on why the book and the words had just appeared, and he wasn't quite sure if Ginny wanted him to say anything about her nightmares to Hermione.  

He groaned, out loud this time.  He was back to his original statement.  He didn't know what it meant.

*

*

"Oi, Harry, get your lazy arse out of bed already," came Ron's voice from the doorway of the Head Boy's room.  Harry's room was connected to the Seventh Year boy's dormitory, just as Hermione's was connected to the Seventh Year girl's dormitory.  That way, they could finish their duties in private when needed, but they were still near their friends that they had spent all their time at Hogwarts with. 

Harry fought his instinct to turn over and pull the blanket up over his head, and slowly managed to open his eyes.  Blinking a few times, he saw Ron looking somewhat cross.  "Plan on sleeping all day, mate?  It's nearly lunch."  

Harry looked out the window that was nearest to the large Head Boy bed and realized that what Ron said was true – the sun was higher up in the sky, meaning it was nearly midday.  "I'll get up," he said slowly and thickly, his voice still deep from sleep.  He threw the blanket back and got out of bed as Ron left, and he went to take a quick shower.  He put on some clothes quickly, without thinking, and went to reach for his cloak when he realized that it wasn't there, on the armchair, where he always lay it before he went to sleep.  Puzzled for a moment, he felt his cheeks begin to darken when he suddenly remembered the last time he had seen it – wrapped around Ginny.  He sighed, thinking of the night before again, before he shook his head as if it would help him clear his mind.  Shrugging, he left his dormitory and descended the stairs.  There wasn't much he could do about Ginny having his cloak.  He would just have to get it back from her soon.

Gryffindor Common Room was somewhat crowded, but then again, there were no classes that day so more people were bound to be mulling about.  He immediately spied Ron and Hermione at one of the study tables, where Hermione was completely spellbound by a thick tome and Ron just looked at her helplessly.  He caught Ron's eye, and he nodded him over, but a timid voice stopped him halfway.

"Harry," the soft voice came from the direction of one of the loveseats near the Fat Lady's portrait.  He would recognize that voice anywhere, at the moment – it was Ginny.

He turned and saw Ginny sharing the seat with the girl he recognized as Kota, Ginny's best female friend.  They looked as though they had been heavily involved in a conversation, and Harry's ears burned when he realized what they were probably talking about.  But Ginny held out something to him, and it took him a moment to realize that it was his cloak, neatly folded. 

"Thanks," he said softly, smiling at the way that her cheeks started to darken as he came closer.    
  
"No problem," she almost whispered, because she was aware that there were several people staring at her and Harry's exchange.   It always happened that way – so many people knew that she had had a crush on him in her first few years that when they automatically watched them when they were conversing.  It had gotten much better the year before because they were seen together so much, but for some reason, many people still watched them, and it unnerved her a little bit to say the least.

Harry headed towards his destination of Ron and Hermione at the table, and he saw Ron looking at him quizzically and gesture to the cloak in his hand and then look at Ginny questioningly.  

"Er, I had it down here last night," he said, trying to think of something to say to where it would look like he wasn't lying, "she was just giving it back to me."

Ron nodded, and his eyes turned back to watch his girlfriend study on one of their rare days off of class.  "'Mione, come on.  You know that you are already three chapters ahead in Arithmancy, why bother reading even more?"

Hermione tutted in the very Hermione-like fashion that Harry had become accustomed to over the years, and she shook her head without stopping to look up.  "Ron, you know very well that Harry and I have our Head meetings later today, so I have to study know if I want to get things done."  Ron looked defeated, as though he had been hoping to drag Hermione away from her books, but watched her as she studied, his eyes never leaving her face.

Harry grinned sheepishly; he'd completely forgotten that he and Hermione had meetings with Professor Dumbledore later that day.  In fact, he wondered why they were scheduled on their day off – they had been on the schedule since the beginning of the year, and the headmaster had just announced that they would not be having classes earlier in the week.  He wondered briefly if they had anything to do with each other, but it left his mind as he looked up and watched Ginny talk animatedly with her close friend. 

Long waves of dark auburn hair trailed down almost near to her elbows now; somewhere along the lines, her hair had turned darker than the typical Weasley red and had developed almost blond highlights.  She'd grown it out, and he had to admit that it suited her.  It made her look…he searched for a word, but couldn't find one.  He just knew that it flattered her pretty face, her face that had looked so sickly this summer but was vibrantly glowing as she spoke to her friend.  He watched one of her small hands brush her hair behind her ear, and then she went back to gesturing with her hands as she spoke.  He had never seen her so happy; the same went for Kota.  The thin blond girl was laughing loudly, attracting the attention of many of the other boys in the House.  Needless to say, they were two of the prettiest girls in Gryffindor, and Harry felt a surge of a powerful feeling when Colin Creevey walked up to the duo and sat on the arm of the loveseat before putting his arm around Ginny.  

He snapped back to attention when Ron and Hermione stood up to go to lunch, asking him if he was coming along.  He stood up swiftly, and quickly put on the cloak that was in his hands.  "I'm coming," he answered, and he followed his two friends out of the portrait hole without looking back.

If he had looked back, he would have seen two deep brown eyes trailing his every move, and met the gaze that had caused him to be so unnerved.

The Great Hall was noisier than ever, and Harry almost fought the urge to clap his hands over his ears as the Hufflepuff table burst into laughter and yells at something that one of the older boys did.  He didn't cast a second glance, though, and sat down next to Ron, who was across from Hermione.  Harry filled up his plate as Ron did the same, and he was concentrating on the food in front of him as he vaguely noticed Ginny and Kota joining them with Colin Creevey a few moments later.  They all said hasty greetings before eating, and the Gryffindor table was relatively silent as the majority of them ate.  

It wasn't until after they were all done and almost ready to leave that Hermione pulled out a book from her bag and set it on the table.  Harry was talking to Colin about Quidditch when he saw Ginny's face freeze as she stared at something on the table.  Harry stopped mid-sentence and asked, "Gin?  What is it?"

Her brown eyes were large when she looked up at him.  "Hermione's book."

He turned to see for himself what had gotten Ginny so worked up.  Lying there, on the Gryffindor table in front of Hermione, was _Prophecies within Legacies: The Predictions._  

*

*

Kota looked at her friend, confused.  Then she looked up at Harry, who had the same exact expression on his face that Ginny had.  "Uh, guys?  Clue me in here on why Hermione's book is such a big deal."

"It's mine," both Harry and Ginny said at the same time, and Hermione looked up at them with furrowed brows. 

Ginny looked up at Harry, and he said more.  "Er, well, it's both of ours, actually.  We got it at Flourish and Blotts."

"Rather, it got us," Ginny said under her breath, referring to the way in which they had gotten the book.

Hermione looked more confused than ever.  "It was just lying on the Common Room table when I came down before breakfast this morning, and I only had a moment to look through it…I thought that it was one of the books open to the house."  She looked at the book, and swore that it was inching itself towards Ginny.  She quickly opened it, and found what Harry and Ginny had found the night before – blank pages.  Harry and Ginny watched with the rest of them as Hermione thumbed through the book until she found the poem that had shown up the night before.  They could see her reading it quickly, then she looked up.

"I've seen this before," she said matter-of-factly, "but the whole thing isn't here…there's tons more to it,"  she looked at them quizzically for a moment, as if something had just struck her.  "But you said that you got it at Flourish and Blotts, right?" she asked slowly.

Harry and Ginny nodded the affirmative.

She looked stricken.  "Are you sure?  Did they let you buy it for a class or something?" she asked quickly, trying to get an answer.

"Er, it kind of hit me in the head first thing when we walked in and followed us around the store," Ginny said sheepishly, remembering the painful thump that had occurred that day.

Hermione looked at Harry.  "You were with her?"

He nodded, wondering what on earth was going on.  "Yeah, why?"

Hermione stood up quickly and motioned for them to do the same.  "I have an idea about something, but I need to talk to you guys.  Alone.  Now."

Harry stared at her for a moment, then was distracted as Ginny slowly rose from her seat.  He followed suit, not really noticing the gazes that Ron, Colin, and Kota were directing at the three of them.  He walked around to their side of the table and followed them out of the Great Hall, and as they walked the stairs to Gryffindor Tower, he had a sinking feeling that things were not exactly going to be pretty when Hermione told them what she knew about the book and poem.


	13. Chapter Twelve Finding What?

Chapter Twelve – Finding Out

Chapter Twelve – Finding What?

Hermione's face had an expression that was difficult to decipher, Ginny mused, as she followed the Head Girl out of the Great Hall and back towards her private rooms. Harry looked as though he was thinking the same thing, and he looked back at Ginny quizzically when she glanced in his direction.

It wasn't until all three of them had walked into Hermione's private room and the brown haired girl had hurriedly waved her wand and whispered a spell to shut and lock the doors that the seventh-year turned towards Ginny and Harry. She held the book up in her hands, and Ginny was extremely surprised to see that Hermione's hand was actually shaking. From what, she had no clue; she knew that the poem that could be read in the book was about Harry, but why was Hermione acting so odd?

"Where did you two get this again? You said something about _it_ finding _you_?" Hermione's voice had taken on the tone she usually reserved for asking questions in class; both Ginny and Harry could see that she was extremely curious about how they had come to have the book.

Ginny paused as she thought of how to answer the question. Thinking that it wouldn't do much harm for Hermione to know the truth, she looked up at Harry to see what he was thinking. He shrugged, and she took that as a cue to answer. "It did find us, really. We were walking into the bookstore towards you and Ron, and it literally just dropped on me."

Hermione's brow furrowed as she contemplated what this meant. "And when you tried to put it back on the shelf?" She knew Ginny wouldn't be one to knock a book down, even accidentally, and leave it on the floor.

"It got stuck to my and Harry's hands…then the shop keeper said something about that book always finding who it wants to." Ginny was very matter of fact about this; as the words were out of her mouth, the book in Hermione's hands seemed to twitch itself towards the redhead. "So he gave it to us, free of charge."

"Hmm." Hermione thought for a moment. She seemed to be thinking of a way to tell them something. "Uh, have either of you ever heard of this book before?"

Harry shook his head first, and Ginny did soon after. "Nope."

"It's an extremely old book, you guys. Extremely. Did you see when it was written?" Hermione's voice had gotten the tone she usually reserved for helping Ron with his homework. The two friends shook their heads again in answer to her question, and she half mumbled to herself, "Right, blank pages. Well, it's from the sixteen hundreds. There are rumors that it originated before then, but this is the only copy in existence today."

Ginny's eyebrows raised. "Why did it find us? All we did was walk into a store!" She'd really only been somewhat curious about the book before Hermione had seen it, but now she wanted to rifle through the pages one by one to see what else she could see. No wonder the pages had seemed so blank – they were old!

"That's the thing," Hermione said slowly, "It rarely ever lets anyone pick it up. That's why I thought it was a school copy in the Common Room – it's said that the book only presents itself to anyone worthy to read it, and it won't let itself be bought." Hermione looked closely at Ginny and Harry as she spoke; they were sitting on the loveseat covered in a Gryffindor throw blanket. "In fact," she continued, "it only presents itself to a person if the person is in a prophecy inside of the book. To make matters even trickier, if more than one person is involved in a prophecy, the book won't present itself unless all the people involved are within sight. That's why it's so rare of a read, plus it explains why the darned thing kept trying to jump out of my hands. "

Ginny's breath caught in her throat. She hadn't been expecting _that_ news. Instantly, her mind froze as she ran through the so-called prophecy in her mind. She'd read it straight through last night, and now she could almost see the words on the page as they appeared in the book:

_The boy who survives a trial as a child_

_Will learn of his family legacy _

_The year that he gains his full power. _

_He will know of his strength only when _

_He finds she of whom his heart desires. _

_The two are destined to be lovers; _

_One created for the other. _

_Innocent will they both be _

_Until in the arms of one another._

She'd only read it briefly; already she had it memorized. If Hermione were correct, then there was no doubt at all about what the prophecy was saying. She and Harry were destined to be…to be…

"Harry?" Ginny asked in a small voice.

All he could do was look at her with a strange expression in his eyes, an expression she was sure mirrored her own. They held each other's gaze until Hermione timidly cleared her throat.

"Um," she started off with, as she was realizing exactly what the other two were. "There's more to the prophecy though, you two. I know I've seen it before, somewhere in the Restricted Section of the library. I don't recall it exactly because I ran across it in my third year, when I was doing all of the time turner business. I was looking for something with ancient runes in it, and this prophecy book I found had some. I read this and I just remember thinking that it was about someone like you, Harry."

He seemed to have recovered from the recent discovery, and he was in all-on 'think' mode. "It's in our library?" He asked her; she nodded in response. "Then we should be able to find it no problem, right?"

She nodded again, taking on Ginny's habit of chewing her lip. Ginny frowned. "What else is there? You're nervous."

Hermione nodded. "I really just want to find that book in the library and double check it before I say anything else. I think I may be confusing two prophecies together."

Harry looked as though he were about to ask something, but he saw that she was getting more and more nervous as his gaze was trained on her. He looked at Ginny, and the realization of the meaning of the prophecy rang through his head loud and clear. _What else could possibly be unloaded on us? Isn't this enough already?_ _Ginny and I are…__**destined**__ to be together? _

With that thought, his eyes locked with Ginny's again, and Hermione gave an impatient sigh as she tried to remember what runes book she had been looking at when she saw the prophecy in the Restricted Section.

Ginny sat on her bed, the Gryffindor maroon draperies closed around her. Thoughts whirled across her mind faster than she could process them, and she knew that the night would be another restless one. She shrugged off her house cloak and tried to clear her head, but there was no chance of that happening. The previous night, all of her thoughts had concentrated on the kiss she and Harry had shared in the stairway. Tonight, all she thought of was _why _she and Harry had shared the kiss. The wonderful, excruciatingly exciting, passionate kiss.

Thought after thought kept her awake as she lay back on her pillows and pulled her comforter up around her. She'd had a nightmare about Tom Riddle the night before – a bloody Tom Riddle. He had frightened her into thinking that the seventh year boy's dormitories were gone; bloody, she had believed him. She'd gone downstairs, and Harry was there. Harry, her friend, her good friend, had comforted her when he saw that she was upset. And then he'd passionately pressed her against the wall while they'd ravaged each other's lips.

The book had popped up in the Common Room and she'd read the passage aloud before they shared the kiss. It was almost as though the book had wanted to warn them of what could happen if they DID kiss.

She groaned to herself when she tried thinking of the prophecy and what Hermione had said about the book. It only gave itself to people who were involved in a prophecy inside of it? That clearly meant that Ginny was the 'she' mentioned in the prophecy that had shown up last night.

And _that_ clearly meant, if one could count following a prophecy in an ancient tome as something clear, that she and Harry were destined not only to be together, but to…to become…

Lovers?

An exciting wave of energy prickled the back of Ginny's neck as she thought that, but she didn't know what to make of it. She and Harry had just become friends last year, and granted she had liked him long before that, but…

Destiny?

She rolled over and tried blocking her thoughts by closing her eyes. She was tired, really, for after they'd left Hermione in search of her third year Ancient Runes notes, she and Harry had awkwardly worked on homework with Ron and Kota in the Common Room for the rest of the day, avoiding what they'd heard Hermione say nearly altogether, and it was tiresome hard work to try not to say what one really wanted to say.

She fell into a light sleep, smiling unconsciously when she realized as she dozed off that her bed still faintly smelled like Harry's cologne, rubbed off from his cloak the night before.

_Ginny was dressed up again, in gorgeous robes for the upcoming ball. She could feel that her hair was exquisitely done on top of her head in an up-do that let a few curls fall loose around her face and neck. She felt rather than saw the robes that she was wearing, because the satin and silk was soft against her skin. She smoothed out the skirt of the robes as she stood from the chair, releasing the wrinkles, and she looked around for a mirror. Seeing one across the room, she picked up the skirt of her robes so they wouldn't brush along the ground behind her. Suddenly she felt the weight of a ring on her left hand as the rich material brushed against it._

_Glancing down, she saw a thick band of shiny silver on her ring finger. She was surprised; she'd seen the ring before. _

_Tom Riddle showed up before she could think of anything else. _

Sweating, Ginny opened her eyes as she gasped for breath. Blood. There had been so much blood on his hands. It had been the same dream as the night before, with a young Tom coming to her to say he'd demolished the seventh years and their dorm.

_Why?_ Ginny thought as she tried to find a comfortable position in bed. _Why am I dreaming about Tom Riddle? _Unable to find a comfortable spot, she gave up on sleep and began to stare out the window, the sunlight starting to creep up across the horizon. Maybe Harry would find out why she was seeing Voldemort in her dreams soon. Or, she reasoned, maybe Hermione would since she kept popping into the situation with more information for them.


End file.
